Thousand Oceans
by Whedonist
Summary: 4th in the ongoing AU...A mess was what was left at the end of Here's to the Night...we need to clean it up.
1. In This Rush

Disclaimer: These characters well, Nikki, Nora, Dan, Darius, Georgia, Charlie, Arthur, Bobby and Mrs. Delaney are so not mine (damnit!), but Ann and Jill and other characters not mentioned in the pilot are (Ha!). The ones in the "damnit!" category belong to Nancylee Myatt and other's I don't know. I'm here for a bit of fun, and for this story, angst. No profit is being made here, and if it is, I'm not seeing a dime.

Oh and before I forget, music is awesome, in fact it's preferred over television, so…the story title is from Tori Amos (all bow to Tori Goddess of the Ivory Keys) and Part I of this mess is from David Cook (yes, the American Idol winner – it's actually not a bad album, a little over produced, but that's common nowadays) off the self-titled album. The lyrics nor title belong to me…and I'm glad they don't…I can't sing to save my life.

A/N: Because my beta is nifty, he got this back to me in short order. So…onward! Upward!...wait…well you get the idea…this follows along the lines of the A.U. I've concocted and is set a few days after the events in Here's to the Night. That's all I got…the disclaimer was long enough.

A Thousand Oceans

Part 1 – Avalanche

_And in this rush, we are crushed,_

_Carry me down, rolln' in your arms, _

Rolling over, I try to ignore the knocking at my front door. My apartment isn't that big. I know. But hearing Jill or Ann answer the door and talking to…my head tilts, straining to hear the timbre of the voice.

Dan!

What the hell is he doing in here?

Did he forget he suspended me for two weeks for assault on a federal agent?

I mean really it's just the icing on the damn cake.

Nikki isn't talking to me. It took nearly two days for my hearing to come back. Moving the last days few have been fun too. Then to make it all nice and better, Dan pulls some stupid shit and suspends Nikki and me for two weeks for hitting two federal agents, who in my opinion, had it coming.

Federal or not, you don't come after fellow officers like that. Unless their dirty and you're taking them down.

It's the one exception to the rule. It's the only exception to that particular rule.

Sighing, I shift in my bed and listen to Jill and Dan outside my door.

"It's good to finally meet you. Nora's mentioned you once or twice," Dan says.

"Same here. Nora and Nikki both have said some really great things about you. My Ann too." Jill replies.

"You've met Nikki?" my ex-partner turned boss asks.

"She kept me company while Ann and Nora were working together. She's pretty cool."

"Uh, well, she's one of our best detectives…," he trails off for a moment, his voice dropping as he asks, "How is she doing?"

"Her hearing came back fully last night, she can move around without wanting to punch someone. She's pissed at the suspension," Jill rattles off the list.

They're quiet, doing what I don't know, but it takes a second before a few short raps are given to my bedroom door. Jill pokes her head through gives me a smile. I scowl at her and she rolls her eyes.

"Nora, baby, you got a visitor," Jill says, pushing open the door, letting Dan walk through.

I sit up a little straighter and smooth out my wrinkled t-shirt.

"Hey partner," he smiles his Dan-like smile that usually gets me. Even on some of my worst days, he would crack a joke and that fucking smile and I would cave. Not much, but just enough so that he didn't feel like shooting me or requesting a new partner.

I can be a bitch to work with some times.

"What's up?" I ask. I really don't want to stretch this visit out longer than I need to.

Jill points to the two of us and quietly excuses herself, letting the door softly click shut behind her.

"For starters you look like shit." He looks me over, his hands resting on the hips of his charcoal grey linen suit. I hate it when he looks at me like that.

Dan and I were a great team and oddly enough, I still consider him one of my closest friends. I just never let him in enough.

He knows about me. About the Nora Delaney that people see. The Nora that I allow the public to see. I've just never given Dan the chance to get to know _me _– the one that Ann and Jill and Nikki know.

Guilt burns in the back of my throat and I cough before replying, "Well, Harney, if all you came to do was tell me I look like shit, like my daddy used to say, door's right there. Don't let it hit ya where the good Lord split ya."

His mouth quirks a little, the right side straining to go upwards. He's good at stoic. But I know him. The twinkles in his eyes give him away.

Finally I smile, showing him it's okay to and he cracks. My partner turned boss caves like a cheap chair and sits on the end of the bed.

"We need to talk, Nora." He sighs and fiddles with his jacket before taking it off and draping it on the foot board of my bed. He licks and sucks in his lower lip, gnawing on it lightly. I watch him as he tries to figure out what he wants to say.

Dan's always been good at choosing his words carefully. Especially with me. I've been told I have a tendency to be prickly.

"There's a few things that…I was pissed at you Nora. I'm still a little sore, but I've gotten over it – mostly." His face drops and he rubs the back of his neck.

What the hell is he talking about?

When his head swings up, we lock eyes and he says, as evenly as possible, "I know. I know about you and I know about you and Nikki." He moves to put a hand on my blanket-covered shin and I react. Drawing my legs into my chest, I rest my chin on my knees and look at him. My eyes burn while my chest tightens.

"Nora, please I'm trying to do the right thing here." His voice is low, wounded almost and I can't…what I want to say and what I should say is a jumbled mess in my head. "Let me get this out and then you can say whatever you need to. A few points and I won't take up much of your time. First, well, we got that out of the way. Second, I'm pissed you never told me. I understand," he stops and runs a hand over his head. "No, that's not right either, I don't really understand, but it's not really for me to understand. It's what it is." His eyes soften and he shakes his head, "It's who you are."

He shifts then, drawing a knee up on the bed while the other leg remains planted on the floor. "I'm pissed 'cause you and I were partners. You could have come to me with stuff like that. I'm also pissed because you and her are carrying around under my nose, in my division, breaking one of the cardinal rules of partnerships."

My mouth drops open to say something in defense, like if I had accepted his invitation to drinks and sex we would have been the same position years ago. But the retort dies as I realize he's really just trying to be my friend.

Something I was never horribly good at with him.

He looks me over and bulldozes onward, "As your partner, Nora, I'm still hurt, but I'll get over my ego. Besides, the fact that you're gay is a lot more appealing to think about than you not being hot for this." His usual cockiness comes out in a lascivious grin.

I can't help but snort.

"Now," he says sobering, "You now I'm pissed, keeping secrets from me. The rest I'm saying as your and Nikki's boss. If it comes down to it and others find out, I'm gonna play the fool. I don't know, I didn't know and this conversation you and I are having now – It. Never. Happened."

Huh?

Am I missing something?

Am I still having hearing problems?

He smiles at me; actually, it's more like a grin.

"If you're happy, and honestly, you seem to be happy working with Nikki and uhm, _working with_ Nikki, than I've ever seen you. You two are a great team." He points a finger at me and warns, "If you repeat this, it will be denied, but you two are the best team S.C.U. has. Hell, you two might be better than us together. Which is why, under these circumstances, ignorance is bliss. I don't know that you two are knockin' boots." He winks at me and smiles that damn smile.

My cheeks flush. In fact, I think all of me is red.

"You, uh, well…" I stammer.

"Words, they're called words Nora. You're usually good at using them," he jokes.

"Why?" is all I manage.

He shrugs. "I have a list of reasons for this. Not one I'm going to repeat. Keep it way below the radar and I'll see you two when you both come back to work. I don't want to split you two up. I don't think the division can afford to, but I will if it becomes necessary." He stands abruptly, grabbing his jacket and slips it on.

He steps towards me, tentatively, before leaning down and placing a kiss on the top of my head. "We're family, in a way," he whispers, "we protect each other. I've got your back. And your girlfriends too."

He right's himself and moves to the door, opens it and looks back, "Don't make me regret it, partner. See you in a week and a half."

With that, he breezes out the door throwing a goodbye to my friends in the living room.

I sit.

It's pretty much all I'm capable of right now.


	2. Noise Inside My Head

_Tell me tonight, _

_All that we have been,  
>Was it nothing more than noise inside my head?<em>

Listening to my father carry on about the latest City Council drama, I sip the second bourbon I poured. It's a tad bit early, a little after one in the afternoon, but it's an indulgence. And no one will ever be able to say that I'm not indulgent. Especially when faced with picking up the pieces of my life.

"Nikki," my father says, cutting through my private pity party, "you haven't heard a word I've said, pumpkin. Would you care to tell me what's going on?" He leans back in my kitchen chair and rests his hands on the tabletop, fingering his pinky ring with his thumb.

I swallow another drink and shrug. "A daughter can't invite her father over for a good lunch?"

Truthfully, I've been miserable since…last week. I can handle the crap case with the eight year old. I can handle Nora and her bull-headed ways.

I can't handle the thought of losing another lover.

When John let it slip about the bomb… maybe it was an overreaction. But she knows. I've told her about Erica and she went and did it anyhow. Facing it all, I just don't think I can do it again.

"Normally, yes," my father's words are even, "but it's the middle of the work week and I know you. Why aren't you at work? Or did you think I wouldn't ask?"

My lips press together as I gauge how honest I want to be. Sucking it up, I say, "I was suspended for two weeks. There was this mess of a case. You heard about the bomb at the airport. My partner and I were assigned; well Nora was assigned to the case."

"Uh-huh, and you were suspended because?" he asks.

"I, uh…" I swallow and answer, "I punched a federal officer when I got on the scene. She came after Nora." The image of Nora, bruised and sooty, standing there as Meagan Diea came after her plays in my mind. "Daddy," I ask not giving him a chance to process my answer, "how did you know mama was the one?"

Draining the rest of my drink, I watch him physically recoil at the question. I can understand it. Usually when we talk of mama, its stories, reminiscing about a woman I can barely remember. As his shock wears off, his eyes narrow, looking me over like I'm twelve again, being caught doing something I shouldn't have been.

And just like I did when I was twelve, I fidget in my seat, waiting for his response.

"Is there something you need to tell me Nicolette?" he responds.

Slowly, I nod and avoid eye contact. "There, is, was…I'm not sure, but it's complicated."

"Nothing worthwhile is ever simple, Nikki. Especially in matters of the heart. Why is it complicated?"

Sighing, I run my hands through my hair and finally meet his eyes. "The woman, she's, our relationship getting out could cause a lot of damage. Professionally and personally."

"I see," he says. "Does this woman have a name?"

My jaw quivers and I nod. "Her, she's my – it's Nora, daddy."

"Your partner?" He clarifies, "Your work partner. The blonde that looked ready to spit nails the last time I saw you at work?"

I nod again.

His eyebrow rises as his hands still.

"I was gonna tell you, but, there are things…Nora's not out, we work together and it's just a great big mess." I'd like to say that I didn't crumble under his stare. That the compassion I saw in his eyes didn't make me feel like a great big heel, but it did and does.

Finally, I lose the small grasp of composure I had been maintaining and drop my head in my hands. The tears leaking through my fingers. I don't hear him move, but I feel his arms wrap around me as my body shakes. His lips press to the top of my head and he holds me. He doesn't say anything. He's just there.

A pillar in my storm.

I'm not sure how long it takes to get me to calm down, but finally I do and as the last few sniffles and shudders move through me, his handkerchief is there drying the tears on my cheeks. The chair scrapes across the tiled kitchen floor and he saddles up to me, gripping my hands.

"What happened, little one?"

"I'm not sure where to start. We were reassigned to separate cases. Mine ended poorly. Nora's ended with that explosion. She, uh, she knew that it was going to blow up…the hangar and she went in it anyhow." I suck in a breath, trying to calm myself. "I just lost it. I wasn't there to protect her. She wasn't hurt real bad, but I just couldn't handle it. Then…oh, daddy, I just. I needed a break."

His hand reaches behind me and gently rubs up and down the length of my spine. "When's the last time you talked?"

"Sunday," I moan.

"Do you love her?" he asks, resignation tinting his words.

I nod. "So much. She wasn't, she hit me like a freight train and now, now, she's stalling on getting a place together. And now I'm kinda glad she did. I don't think I can handle this. What if I lose her?"

"You're scared, Nikki. That is natural, but if you love her. If she's the one you're giving your heart to, then you have to work through it," he answers honestly.

"She has it and I… just – I do, so much, but, I just don't know if I can be with her." The words ring hollow in my ears. I know what I want.

I just don't know if I'm strong enough to deal with the implications. Things seemed so much easier two weeks ago. My future seemed like it was laid out at my feet, I just needed Nora to grab my hand and begin the walk with me.

But that's just it. She didn't. She shut me out; she chose Ann over me, even if it's a platonic situation. She chose her over me. Consistently over the past two weeks.

My father sighs. He sighs and wraps his arm around my shoulders giving me a squeeze and a kiss on the side of my head. "There are no easy answers here, little one. I'm sorry."

I slump against him. And swipe at my eyes again.

Can we just rewind the last few weeks and start over?

My head snaps up at the sharp knocking on my door. My father looks at me and stands, moving to answer the door. I watch him disappear around the corner and hear, "Ah, hello," my father says.

"Is Nikki here," the male voice asks.

Who?

Dan,

They both come around the corner of the wall that separates the kitchen from the entry way and living room. He starts to smile at me, but falters looking me over. "Uh, sorry, I tried to call…uhm," he hooks a thumb over his shoulder and stutters, "I can – yeah, I'll come back."

"No," my daddy says, "this is business or so it appears." He excuses himself, "I'll go for a little walk."

I nod and wave at Dan to take a seat. "What?" I ask, not really in the mood to see him.

He fidgets. Not something I've seen him do. Looking me over, he sits opposite me at the end of my round kitchen table. "I tried to call," he offers by way of apology.

"I turned the phones off. I'm not in the mood to chat." I fold my arms across my chest and wait for him to get on with it.

"Makes sense. I just, are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm suspended. What the hell do you think?" I spit.

He winces, but meets my gaze. "You cold cocked a federal agent. You're lucky that's all you're getting."

I wave a hand at him and press, "Was there something you needed Lieutenant or did you come around to rub it in?"

"No, I really was just…" he rubs his hand over his head. It's a habit he has when he's nervous or frustrated. If I were him and he were me, I think I'd be a bit of both. "I just came from Nora's. She looks only slightly better than you."

He huffs and sits forward, lacing his hands on the tabletop. "I needed to speak with you both, but when you weren't with her it threw me. I was hopin' to kill two birds with one stone." He looks me over, this time with a more critical eye. "I'm gonna go. This was – this is a mistake." He moves to stand and I let him.

Rounding the corner he calls over his shoulder, "You need to talk to your girl."

Wait?

My _what_?

It takes a few seconds, but my feet have me up and bounding for the door to stop him. What the hell is he talking about?


	3. These Scars We Wear

_These scars we wear remind us,_

_The more we change the more we're all the same,  
><em>

The sun shines down on us as I watch Lucy and Travis load up the rest of the bags on the jet Lucy will be flying back to Washington. Jill's arm is snug around my waist as she squeezes me into her side. For a few brief moments, I allow myself to relax and return the hug with one of my own.

In a way it feels like they just got here. Then again, it feels like everything's changed. I sigh as we release each other and Ann scoops me up. I wrap my arms around her waist and she buries her face in my neck. Her voice is muffled but I hear, "I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too." I say and squeeze harder.

"You two hug any longer and I may just start feeling left out," John jokes from my right. I let my friend go and look him over. Black t-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes. He wears a single side arm and it's strapped to the right waist of his back. His boyish grin and bright eyes would make most appear cocky.

For some reason, it just sort of endears me to him. I stick my hand out and he shakes it firmly. "That all I warrant Delaney?" I roll my eyes and offer him hug.

"Oh, no," I hear Lucy behind us. "John, if your wife saw…"

He steps back and winks, "Becca'd either want to watch or ask me to leave." His eyes dance with laughter and he wiggles his eyesbrows at me.

"Didn't need to know that," I say blandly. The rest of the group laugh.

I point a finger at me, but the words 'taken and gay' die on my lips. I'm not sure if I am taken. Not anymore.

The director must see something flash across my face as he drapes an arm over my shoulder. "Don't worry about it Nora. These things have a way of sorting themselves out."

I nod mutely as he steers me towards Ann and Jill. "I'll see you around Detective Delaney. Take good care of your partner and hopefully the next time around it will be under far more pleasant circumstances." I watch him and the other two agents on his team retreat up the steps of the jet and inside, leaving Ann, Jill and me on the tarmac.

Ann's the first to offer another hug as she kisses me on the cheek. "Call her," is all she offers vocally before trotting up the steps, following her team.

Jill stays and looks me over. Her mouth screws to the side, her arms across her chest as she studies me. Finally settling on some words she offers this, "It's you to decide."

Her lips brush against my forehead and she takes off after her wife. I stand there for a moment before walking towards June Lee parked off to the left of the private hangar. I've seen enough of airports for a while.

I get to my baby and turn her over, letting her idle as I mull over Jill's words. She's usually not that cryptic, but knowing her, she was trying to tell me something.

I just wish I knew what.

Sighing, I fish out the items from my pocket that're digging into my thigh. Two badges, honorary, from Director Malone, the I.D.s claim Nikki and I both as federal agents. I snort at John's gift. He said that if anyone gives us any "shit" just flash the badge and it will "shut 'em up."

I swear that man isn't playing with a full deck.

I stuff the gag gifts in my glove compartment next to an extra set of cuffs, spare clips and registration. Silently, I watch the jet lift off and wish my friends safe travel.

Pulling my cell phone from my pocket, I check the display first and view the fact that I have no missed calls. I pinch it then, between my thumb and index finger raising it up a few inches above my thigh to let it slip through. It rotates, my fingers providing the axis for its turn before softly hitting my thigh again.

I haven't seen her for three days and we really need to talk. I just don't understand what happened. She seemed to get that I was so very sorry Sunday. What changed in the few seconds between me wrapping her knuckles and John walking into the room?

I've tried several times to call Nikki, each call was met with a voicemail after a few rings, now…it goes straight to voicemail. The phone twirls as my mind gathers the pieces of my life together.

She won't talk to me over the phone. Darius won't pick up the phone. I only have one more option in terms of trying to track down my partner.

Her father.

I chew on my lower lip and continue to fiddle with my phone. Is that really something that I want to do?

Fuck it.

I toss the phone on the passenger seat and put June Lee in gear…

What did mama used to say when dad was acting like an ass…If the mountain won't go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

I snort. Right like I need to be like my mother. I shake my head and slip into the flow of traffic on the highway. I just hope Nikki's let her father know where she's at.

A small traffic accident on the highway slows my progress and by the time I make it to Nikki's dad's it's quarter to five. I hate knockin' on people's door around supper. Seems rude.

I kill June Lee's engine and snag my phone. I straighten my back and square my shoulders walking up the brick sidewalk. Her dad's place always made me nervous. Too much for just a couple of people. My three brothers, mom, dad, and I could all live in the den.

I hit the doorbell and hear it ring in the house. My hands get stuffed in my pocket and I rock back on my heels waiting for someone to come answer the door. For some reason I feel eight again waiting on my best friend, Sara, to answer the door. I always got so nervous standing outside waiting on her.

The door swings open to reveal one of their staff. He's clean cut in a simple linen suit and I'm struck again by how different Nikki and I are. The way we grew up so vastly different from another. What if it's just the realization that we're too different to actually work?

Did she finally see what I've known all along? She's the Frances to my Johnny.

I run a hand through my hair and ask, "Is Mr. Beaumont in. I'm looking for Nikki. I work with her and she isn't picking up her phone. I was hoping he could help."

His lip and eyebrow rise in tandem, it's slight but there and I can't tell if it's shock or disgust. Maybe a bit of both…?

"Ms. Beaumont is here. Please wait here and I'll see if she's accepting company." He shuts the door behind me and strides up the steps while I wait in the foyer.

Her being here is convenient. I think. I'm still a little shocked that tracking her down was this easy.

It seems like forever as I stand really looking around, examining the different pieces of art decorating the walls or the few family pictures. Nikki always told me that she didn't have much family. An aunt and uncle that live up North with two cousins that don't stay in touch much.

Her family is her dad and Darius. I had thought that her circle had widened enough to include me too.

I guess we're about to find out. The butler comes down and clips, "She's in her room, go up the steps, turn right, it's the second door on the right."

I swallow and nod.

Guess we're gonna see how infested the waters I'm diving into are.


	4. Make the Same Mistakes

_Swept up in this emotion, _

_We fumble through and make the same mistakes  
><em>

The door to my room is open. Done so purposefully. But as Nora stands in the doorway, I'm not sure it was such a good idea. I take her in. Noticing small changes. She looks tired. Wrung out.

I'm sure I don't look any better from my seat at the foot of my childhood bed. Truthfully, I'm exhausted. I'm hurt and confused and more than anything…I just want to wrap myself up in Nora Delaney and spend the rest of my life in her arms.

I bite back the urge. That's not what either of us needs right now.

"Hi," she says meekly, propped against the doorframe.

"Hi back," I say motioning her to come inside. "I…"

"I…"

We start at the same time. She blushes and I smile.

"I tried calling your cell," she rushes out, "You didn't answer. I called the apartment. You didn't answer. Darius wouldn't tell me anything. I resorted to enlisting your father for help." She shuffles further inside and finishes, "but you're here."

"I am." I've been thinking nonstop of what I want to say to her and now that I have her in front of me I don't have a clue what to say.

I do acknowledge that this is the first time she's been in my room here. I see her look around. This room is stuck in a time warp that much I'm aware of. It's stuck in the form of a girl from John Marshall High's graduating class of 1989. A school pennant, pom-poms, a few trophies and Polaroid's decorate my room. That and the magnificently large poster of Debbie Gibson circa her release of Electric Youth.

The poster does not go unnoticed by Nora and she smirks at me looking it over then looking pointedly at me. Admittedly, I didn't know it at the time, but upon reflection, as I came out, I realized a few things about the younger me.

The first and foremost being that while all the signs were pointing to my gayness, such as my deep love of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Boy George and Debbie Gibson, her in particular for some reason. The second being my near consistent "hero worship" of actresses. I mooned over Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. Later on in life I found out it wasn't because I admired their talent. Erica took particular glee in pointing out the signs of my budding sexuality.

I want to bury my face in my pillows and wake up in her arms.

I huff and she looks at me, a question on the tip of her tongue. I shrug. It's nearly all I'm capable right now.

"Debbie Gibson?" she asks instead.

I can't help the smile. I would scowl and pout if her look of incredulity wasn't so damn adorable.

"I didn't think you'd stoop so low as Eighties Pop, Nikki." Nora leans against the vanity table.

"It was catchy and she was cute. Can't blame a girl," I tease right back. Lyrics come unbidden in my mind and I sing a bit of one of her songs, "When I was sorry, it was too late to turn around and tell you so. There was no reason. There was no reason. Just the foolish beat of my heart."

The last words die on my lips as the melody slips away, realizing too late the song choice was a tad too telling of my current, of our current situation.

She breaks eye contact and goes back to staring at the thick cream colored carpeting.

"Nikki, what's going on?" she whispers. I nearly miss the question, it's asked so softly.

"Nora, I…" I squeeze my eyes shut, pushing the tears back. I struggle with what I have to tell her. "We need time. We need time apart to really see if this is what we want."

Her eyes open and snap to me. "I know what I want Nikki. I'm standing in her room. I know exactly where I want to be. What I can't figure out is why you aren't _with_ me."

I run a hand through my hair and begin studying my bed spread. The blasted thing ain't changed in nearly two decades. I know the pattern just as well as the back of my hand. "I need a break. These past two weeks Nora. I need to see if…"

"See what? Wasn't it you that wants to get a place together? Wasn't it you that was settin' on tellin' your daddy about us over dinner, trying to make your intentions for us perfectly clear? Tell me Nikki what in the hell happened that was so drastic that you've set a flame to the dream you and I were building together?" Nora snaps. Maybe she has every right to.

I just don't know anymore.

"That's just it," I say as evenly as possible. I unfortunately can't manage a voice above a whisper as I say, "they're just dreams Nora. That's all they were. What I want for us, I'm not sure we can ever have. Between the complications work brings into this…added to the fact that you…"

"Me? That I what?"

My patience starts to wane and I stand up, folding my arms across my chest. "Every decision that you've made has been you choosing something other than me." I finally say. "I'm not looking for you to march in NOLA's Pride parade Nora. I just want a little recognition for the place I hold in your life. You can't do that though. Every chance you've had you've chosen something or someone that isn't me. Isn't us."

I shake my head at her attempt at interrupting me. "No, you asked darlin', well I'm answering. I need to figure out if that's something that I can live with. I need to figure out if what I want for us isn't just some half cooked up fantasy because I love you so damn much I'm willing to sacrifice my self-worth for us to be together." The tears start all on their own, somewhere between the beginning and middle of my tirade, but I press on, "I need to figure out if can stand the thought of losing you before we go any further. I can't bury another lover."

Her jaw clenches and quivers as the usually kind green eyes I've come to adore stare back at me, guarded and angry.

"I just need some time to figure all of that out Nora. Please," I whimper.

She shakes her head. "Ain't it a little too late to be wondering about shit like this when we're already in too deep? Why didn't you say this before I fell in love with you…?"

Nora doesn't wait on a reply to her questions, but instead takes off out the door.

I hear her bound down the steps, slam the front door closed and the way she guns June Lee, peeling away from my childhood home, away from me. Again.

I fall back onto my bed and pull a pillow over my mouth to cover the sobs.


	5. All At Once

_I feel alive beside you,  
>And all at once I am whole again,<br>_

I look out of June Lee's windshield and concur with God that today is a shitty day. The slate steel slab that's been slammed over New Orleans coupled with the muggy threat of a thunderstorm, are all telltale signs of God's displeasure at today. Or it could be that the Universe for once wants to throw me a bone and commiserate with me.

The remaining days of my suspension were the longest of my life. Darius acted as a go between for Nikki and I, picking up and dropping a few things off that we needed to get by. The first conversation we've had since I went to her daddy's house was this morning to clarify how we were going to handle work.

As far I'm concerned it's business as usual. Dan doesn't need to know anything and as for the rest of the squad, they'll whisper enough about our return after two weeks off. I've got enough on my plate without worrying about them.

I'm still not sure how she's going to be. I haven't slept much; eating's been a laughable thing. The one nice thing is that my pain in the ass brother's made it a point to stop by almost every day to fill me in on what's going on in the department.

We went to eat last night to celebrate my return and Bobby's promotion to the mounted patrol unit. He was just happy not having to hoof it around the city anymore.

Although the most troubling thing is that I haven't heard a word from my mother. Nor has Bobby mentioned her or asked me to come to dinner with her. I don't know if should call or not. I grunt and run a hand through my hair.

I check the read out on my radio, checking the time. Nikki should be down in a minute. I can't tell if the knot in my stomach is anticipation or anxiety tinted agony at having to spend our first full day working together.

I know I miss her.

I miss waking up next to her. I miss the sound of her voice as she teases me endlessly. Hell, I miss her little half snore that wakes me up in the middle of the night and her need to leave dirty clothes on the bathroom floor.

I swallow past the lump in my throat as she approaches me. More casual than normal. She's in jeans, scoop neck sweater and brown leather jacket.

"Well aren't we happy this morning," she teases me.

"Eh?" I ask dumbly.

"You're smiling. I've miss…" she cuts herself off.

I shrug and answer honestly, "I just like seeing you."

Her cheeks tint at my admission and she clicks her seatbelt closed. "You ready for today?"

I nod. "I've been very bored." I signal and pull out into traffic easily threading through the other cars towards the station.

"Yeah, me too," she says. I look out of the corner of my eye and see her head propped against the window staring out at the sky.

"Maybe it'll be slow. We can stay at the station instead of going out into the rain," I say wanting to smack myself upside the head. If this conversation were any lamer I'll be forced to bite my tongue off.

She turns her head to me and offers me a look. I already know she's thinking what I'm thinking.

I close my mouth and focus on the road. Better than trying to make conversation. The rest of our drive is uneventful. Silent and tense. Slipping into my usual parking space I kill the engine and make my way out of the car towards the station house, not bothering to see if she's following.

Signing in, I greet the front desk uni and head up the steps to my department. The first stop we need to make is to see Dan. This should be interesting. We haven't really talked much since the Wednesday before last. After he told me he knew. I'm still not sure what to do with that.

From our talk, it looks like it's going to be business as usual. Maybe we're operating under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy and really, that's fine with me. The fact that he acknowledged it and isn't doing anything about it is enough to send me into fits.

He's usually so by the book. I rub at the back of my neck, stalling in front of his door when I feel Nikki come up behind me. "The handle won't bite sugga," she purrs in my ear, "as far as Dan's concerned nothin's changed and I for one want to get my gun and badge back."

I sigh and push the door open. Our boss is sitting behind his desk on the phone. He holds his finger up asking for a minute. We look at each other and take our seats across from him. I shake my head at his office. It wasn't the cleanest when he first moved in and now….

One day we won't be able to find him. He'll be buried under all the paperwork he has stacked around his office. My point is made when he rolls back and knocks into a filing cabinet, sending three manila folders to the floor. Paper goes spilling out, he cusses under his breath and I go play fetch.

Bending over and scooping the files in my arm, I feel Nikki's gaze on me. It's a familiar tingle that I've ached to feel again. Two weeks…two weeks of this bullshit break and I still can't figure out what the hell she needs from me so that she'll say I love you again. That'll get her to see that us being together is the only course of action either of us needs to take.

I right myself and set the files back to where they fell from. I catch her lingering stare before returning to my seat just as Dan hangs up the phone. He glares at Nikki a moment and barks, "Why didn't you tell me Toussaint was a walking harassment suit waiting to happen?"

Nikki shrugs. "'Cause it would seem that he weasels out of most of it." She the smiles at him. He doesn't know that particular tilt of her lips or the arch of her eyebrows.

"And you conveniently forgot to mention to your temporary partner who Johanna Griffith was." It's a statement. Nikki shrugs.

"Had he been a bit more concerned about the facets of the case, he should have been aware," she responds to the statement and all Dan does is shake his head and grunts.

"Well, he's being reassigned to foot patrol out in the quarter for the foreseeable future. Senator Griffith, however, made it clear you were a "jewel"," he air quotes the word 'jewel', "and that nothing negative should happen to you." He smirks and finishes, "You may owe her a box of chocolates. The woman intervened for you and your partner when the federal agents you two assaulted wanted to take it a little further than just a slap on the wrist suspension."

I really don't know what they're talking about but I shoot a glance to my partner that lets her know I want to be filled in later. She dips her chin as an answer and I face Dan again.

His hand's in his desk drawer to his right as he looks us over. Deciding on something, he pulls out two badges and two guns encased in their holsters. "Welcome back. And for the love of Pete, don't let it happen again detectives. Pulling your asses out of the fire is a lot more work than I need."

I sigh and he winks at me.

"Now, since all of your cases have been reassigned, we need to keep you two busy until I get dispensation from I.A.B. to clear you for field duty," he informs us.

"What?" Nikki and I huff at the same time.

"In light of the last two cases Nikki worked and the last case that you worked, Nora, they're asking that we hold off on putting you both on active cases." He raises his hand at the protests on the tips of our lips. "Consider it a blessing. This could have ended a little worse for you two than a suspension and a trip to the company shrink."

"So we have to be cleared by the department psychologist before we take any cases?" Nikki asks, her tone belying her stiff posture.

Dan nods and hands over a few pieces of paper. "I need you two to sign the top and then take the bottom to the Doc to fill out and send back to me." He smiles sweetly at the two of us before amending, "Do my heart and stress level some good, don't talk about your relationships outside of work. Stick to the cases."

It's the first he's mentioned to us. Nikki and I haven't really had a chance to talk about it either.

We take the papers from him as he finishes, "Until then, I'm enlisting you to begin taking this crap out of my office and begin transferring it down to the file room or where ever," he waves his hand about, "it needs to go."

I scowl at him and stand. Nikki begins to follow me out the door before he calls out, "Don't forget to take a box each, ladies!" I snatch the two top boxes of files and stomp out of his office.

Jerk!


	6. Breathin' In

_We fall into each other,  
>Your atmosphere is all I'm breathin' in<em>

I look up again, catching her eyes going back to the stack of folders in front of her. Nary has a word been exchanged between us. We've sat here most of the day going from one file to the next. We've also both made the requisite appointments to see the shrink so we can be released for field work.

I honestly can't say I'm upset about being stuck at my desk. The break from looking at dead bodies is actually welcome. I knew making the transition from narcotics to S.C.U. was going to be a little hard to handle. I had expected it.

Nora kinda made the transition as easy as it could have been and I rolled with it all to keep pace with my partner. Even on our toughest cases, she's not let her emotions show the affect they've had on her.

Which is surprising given her temperament. But Nora holds it in really well.

I haven't missed the dead bodies in two weeks, and I won't complain about another week or so away from them either. Even though suspension was god awful.

Thank God for Darius. He's been spending his free evenings with me. Sometimes he berates me for letting my fear get the better of me. At least that's how he started, but once I told him about the past few weeks. About Nora and what she's been working on, he lightened up and has been a bit more supportive. Except when he gives me the look.

I sigh and close the current file. Stretching in my chair, I hear my back pop back into place. Nora looks up at me and gives me a look, chewing on her lower lip. Her eyes are a storm of thoughts. I can't be sure if they are in regards to me or if they are about the files she's shuffled through.

Or…it could be because Dan knows and I'm not entirely sure how she feels about that. Of course there's not much for Dan to know right now. What I did ask him, when I chased him down outside of my apartment, was how he found out.

He offered me this little smile and said, "At first it was a suspicion. She let you drive her car. In the years that we worked together, she never let me behind the wheel."

"That was it?" I had asked.

He grinned and then answered, "No, her attitude's changed. She smiles more. She looks at you like she ain't ever looked at me. All of that plus your reaction to her at the airport. It clicked."

I kicked myself then. It isn't that I ever thought that he was dumb. I actually think he's a pretty smart guy. I just thought that Nora and I did and do a stellar job of hiding it.

But…

We overlooked one minor detail.

Despite Nora's adamant declaration that nothing between the sheets happened between the two; he was her partner before me. That bond, especially if you're a good team, is hard beat. Nothing makes people closer than being shot at together. Hell, it brings a level of intimacy greater than sex to the relationship under certain circumstances.

And truthfully, I'm okay with Dan knowing. It makes things a bit easier. He did say that he wasn't gonna stop teasing Nora and by teasing he meant hitting on her 'cause it "chafes her like nothing other."

He's right about that. My…she gets huffy usually when he does.

"Delaney," Nora answers her desk phone. I try not to eavesdrop but I hear snippets, "No, ma, I didn't…I don't know if I'll have time…You what?...No, look," she stammers and I catch her eye.

She holds the phone away from ear and looks me over. Cocking my head to the side I try to discern what's going on with the look she's giving me. She gets the same look when studying evidence or a crime scene.

I resist the urge to snap at her that I'm not a dead body or a smear of blood.

Her mouth parts a little more and her eyes widen in that way that lets me know she's figured something out.

I scowl at her and go back to my stack.

"Yeah, ma, I'm still here…Actually, if you want set an extra spot, I might just be bringing a guest…No, not yet…I'll let you know…yeah, you too…Bye." She cradles the receiver and stands.

Looking me over she says, "I'm gonna head out. Darius still coming to pick you up?"

I nod, watching as she grabs her jacket and practically runs out the door. I cluck my tongue and look at the clock on the computer. Five p.m. We've been here our eight hours. Funny how the day seems to crawl on by when you're buried under a mountain of paperwork you could care less about.

Sighing, I push back from my desk and gather my purse and coat. Darius should be waiting for me around the corner. Maybe he'll take me out and get me properly drunk.

I trot down the steps, sign out and head to our designated meeting place. He's driving his Escalade and every time he drives it I have to laugh a little. In private, the man laments the stereotypes associated with his ethnicity. Yet…he plays the part to any casual observer. Talk to him for ten minutes and his farce is revealed. The car is another facet of his "cover". Tricked out with rims, a system, tinted windows and all the bells and whistles, Darius seems to enjoy it.

I suppose that's the most important part.

I slip into the passenger seat just as the rain breaks for the second time today. I lean over and give him a peck on the cheek. He grins at me and asks, "How's the first day back?"

I don't answer as he pulls out into traffic and heads towards my apartment. I see him glance out of the corner of his eye and dutifully, I ignore his looks.

"When you gonna get another car?" he asks over the jazz coming out of the speakers.

"When I figure out if I'm gonna need one," I reply shortly.

"How was Nora?"

"What are we playing twenty questions, Dar?" I snip. I shouldn't be cranky with him. It's not his fault my day sucked.

We stop at a light and he turns to me, hooking a finger under my chin, turning my head towards him. "We will if you don't start talkin'. i _Kouz/i_ you gotta get it right."

"Why?" I ask pulling away and point towards the car moving ahead of us. "She said half a dozen sentences to me today and then took off as soon as the clock hit five."

He grunts at me and mumbles, "Shit's gonna make for a long fucking week."

Silently, I agree.


	7. Lead to the Edge

'_Cause we are lead to the edge,_

…_Crashing down, crashing down,  
>In your avalanche, in your avalanche<em>

I huff waiting on Nikki to get in the car. I'm taking her home tonight. The first night all week. It's also our Friday and I've yet to ask her what I really want to.

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. I should just ask and get it over with. I mean would she say no?

I can't be sure of that. If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I could have told you with conviction that she would have jumped at the chance. But.

It's not a few weeks ago.

Resisting the urge to thump my head on the steering wheel and injure my car, I do what I do best. Put the pieces together. And oddly enough, I have my mother to thank for this. The irony isn't lost on me.

It took me a while to put some of the pieces together. Nikki's not just talking about me and Ann, although I think that my relationship with Ann bugs my girl more than she ever told me. In a way, Nikki is right. I did choose the case over her, but what she doesn't see is that if the shoe were on the other foot, if it was her that was asked to work the case, she would have done the exact same thing.

My mouth screws to the side, slowly working through my plan of attack, first step is to ask her to dinner. Then well, the rest kinda depends on her reaction to it all. She's scared. That I understand. But we can't pretend that our jobs aren't dangerous, but she's using her past as an excuse.

I chew on my lower lip, disliking the idea of using her dead girlfriend against her, but Nikki's using her against me and I'm pissed about it, just not pissed off enough to not cut her slack. She deserves it.

We both have baggage and we both need to work through it.

Together.

Nikki's back is turned to me as she rests on the passenger side fender of June. Her left arm is tucked neatly under her right arm that is holding her phone to her ear. I can't hear her or see her face, but for some reason I get the feeling that she's annoyed with the person on the other end of the line.

Then again she's been annoyed all week. I can count on one hand the times I've seen her smile at anyone this week. Dan keeps shooting us looks as we come in and out of his office to pick up more files to organize.

And while I have time to brood, fuck him and his files. I hate desk work and this is like being stuck in the middle of my own mini hell.

Shit's getting old. Thank God, I've got an appointment with the shrink Tuesday morning when we return for the beginning of the week.

Nikki pushes off the car and turns looking at me, asking me for a minute more. I nod and she nods and turning away from me, goes back to her conversation.

I get that I fucked up. I understand that what I said to Nikki that Friday night when everything went to shit was insensitive and that if our roles were reversed I would have reacted much the same way Nikki did.

Hell, I probably would have been madder.

Every word Ann and Jill have said to me regarding my relationship with Nikki is coming to bite me in the ass. My words to her, to my lover, have been hollow. I see it, now. I just hope I'm not too late. I just need her to talk to me.

If she'd get her ass in the car. If she'll give me the time of day. I figure that I've only fifteen minutes to really get her to buy into what I have to say. If I smoked, I'd want a cigarette right now. As it stands, I'd take a fifth of tequila and all the courage I can muster.

Both the drink and the courage are in short supply as Nikki slips inside my car. As she fastens the seatbelt across her lap, I ask, "You ready?"

She bobs her head.

Yep. That's about as much as she's said to me all day. Sighing, I put June Lee in gear and head towards her apartment. The words I wanted to say leave me. I keep looking at her out of the corner of my eye. I've never seen her quite so…surly. That's the best description of how she's been all week. Grumpy too.

The trip to her apartment is shorter than I would have liked. So short that I wasn't able to find my spine that was misplaced when she stepped into June Lee. The bats start up in my stomach and my palms are slick against the steering wheel. I need to grow a pair before she bolts. It's just…I'm not good at this. I'm fine when things are good, but I hate fighting. I never did handle confrontation with the people I was seeing well.

Well, it's not like there was a lot of people, Tommy, Ann and if you count Cassie. I think that was one of the reasons I stuck around with Tommy as long as I did. I had no urge to fight with him. Then Ann. She changed everything. And she also took glee in pointing out the signs of my sexual orientation. I'll forgive her for it when I'm old and grey…maybe.

It's also a part of what Nikki doesn't understand or maybe she does, but she's chosen to ignore it. I was always the tomboy. I was always the one that people made assumptions about. I had no interest in dating in high school. Tommy chased me and I just figured it was what you were supposed to do. So I did it…until something that actually felt right came along.

Nikki looks at me as she unbuckles her seatbelt. The voices in my head are yelling at me and the opportunity to say what I need is quickly slipping through my fingers. Gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles are white, I clamp my eyes shut and blurt, "Come with me on Sunday to family dinner?"

I wait for a response.

June Lee rumbles under the hood.

My blood rushes through me, sounding in my ears, nearly drowning out the sound of the engine.

But Nikki doesn't say anything.

Slowly, I crack an eye open, my right one and sneak a peek.

She sits there staring at me.

Taking this as a sign I hurry on, "I know you want space. I know you need to figure it out, but I get it. I fucked up. I know that we have issues that we need to work on. I'd like to start. I want to make it right and I want to do it all with you by my side. I don't know how, Nikki. I'm scared and I need you."

I suck in a breath and forge ahead, "I don't know if it's too late or not, but I told my mama that I was gonna try and convince Dan's replacement to come with me to dinner this Sunday. I know it's not…it's not what you want. But it's a step. As for me and the closet, I have my reasons for staying in there. I'll explain them to you if that's what you want. I just…please…just…" I swallow and turn to her, "Just don't leave it like this. Please?"

She stares back at me. Still not saying a word. Come on Nikki, anything, just say yes. Say we can take it slow. Just put me out of the misery I've been in…

The seconds tick by then she throws herself from my car and nearly runs to her apartment. My eyes follow her retreating form and I sag in to the seat. Falling forward, my forehead thumps against the steering wheel and the tears splash on its column.


	8. Carry Me Down

_Carry me down,_

_Rolln' in your arms_

'_Cause I can't remember ever falling this hard_

Heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe, heel…brick wall. Spin. Gnaw on my thumb nail which is a nasty habit. Glance up at the apartment door. And back to Heel, toe, heel, toe, heel.

"Nicolette Joyelle, I swear on Erica's grave if you don't quit the pacing shit and man up, I'm gonna pop you." Darius barks. He's leaning against his car, outside Nora's apartment with me.

We've been here for a little while and I can't muster up the courage to go and knock on her door. He's parked behind June Lee and has been patient with me for the better part of an hour. I walk over to him and slump against the Cadillac, resting my head on his shoulder.

I called him three hours ago, about a half hour after I ran away from Nora.

Idiot.

I am an idiot.

That's been the mantra of the evening and I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon. Sighing, Darius wraps an arm around my shoulders and lets me snuggle in. "I ain't gonna wait out here with you forever, _kouz'_. You either gonna hafta go on up there and pour your heart out or I'm gonna leave you here to sleep in the bed of Nora's car."

I grunt at him and burrow deeper, his lanky form providing minimal comfort. He kisses the top of my head a few minutes later, shoves me away and says, "you needta go make this right, _kouz'_."

I nod and say, "I'll, uh, give me a few and I'll let you know how it goes."

He waves me off, "I brought a book. Take your time, but if you plan on spendin' the night, let me know. I don't need to sleep in my ride." He winks at me then, his teeth white against the darkness outside and the brown of his skin and lips. My heart swells just a little thinking of him and the things we've been through together.

I swallow the knot of emotion and smile instead, offering a wink of my own. I spin around and find courage that was hidden somewhere underneath my shame and pig-headishness. As I climb the steps to the second story apartment, I put together my apology. Do I lead in with bravado and false confidence, accepting Nora's invitation to dinner or do I drop to my knees and ask forgiveness.

I run a hand through my hair, cursing Nora for my insecurity. She is the only one that's ever made me this unsure of myself. Sometimes it's been enough to save my life and others…

I think it makes me a bit sick 'cause she turns me about so much I can't tell whether I'm comin' or goin' or if I should just hang on to her coat-tails and let her carry us through.

Her door materializes in front of me. My knuckles hover before it. My father's words whisper in my ear as my hand drops to knock on her door, _"Tell her you love her and let the rest sort itself out." _

How he still believes that love will be able to solve all is beyond me. He certainly didn't get his happily ever after and mine…who I thought it was – I swallow, Erica can't have a place in this relationship.

I shake it off as the door swings open and Nora looks at me, her face not giving anything away. She motions me inside and I slip past her as she shuts the door. Music plays in the living room. I can't help the smile as I recognize the harmonies drifting softly from the speakers. My girl has the softest spot for The Temptations. Tonight, they sing "I Could Never Love Another".

Affectionately, I smile at her. She blushes slightly as I watch her take a seat on the couch, motioning for me to sit next to her. I look between the couch and recliner and her. I have a small internal debate and shake my head. "I need to talk and sitting next to you won't help."

"Okay," she says expectantly.

Drawing in a breath, I stick to the plan of attack that I've concocted on the way up the steps, "Yes, I'll go to dinner with you to your mama's." I run a hand through my hair and stop my pacing, resting my hands on my hips to look down at her. "I was pissed at you. For a lot of reasons Nora Marie."

"Nikki, I…" she tries to interrupt but I talk over her.

"No, lemme talk," I say holding a hand up. "There's a lot that I don't get. Maybe a part of me never will and we have issues. Ones that need to be worked out and gone over. I have issues that I need to deal with, but my being upset about the bomb and the airport…" I trail off and drop my hands from my hips. I move to stand in front of her and drop to my knees. "I'm so scared of losing you. After everything, I overreacted," gathering her hands in mine, bringing them tight against my chest. I kiss her knuckles and just let it all out. "I've let Erica in between us. My grief of losing her snuck in and took over while we weren't working together. Then with Jill and Ann here and my jealously, however unfounded, of your relationship with them is, I lost it. I ran and I'm sorry for that."

I look at her, fighting to keep my tears at bay. She looks down at me, her eyes and face still not giving her away. Her mouth opens for a second and then snaps shut. "Okay," she finally says.

I raise my eyebrow at her and she gives me the smallest upward turn of her lips.

I blink. "That's it?"

A wry smile blooms on her gorgeous lips and she shrugs. "I've been…Nikki these past few weeks without you have been hell," she confesses. "But, I…you were or are right in a way. I've been putting things…people in front of you and it's not acceptable. I can't tell my mom about us, but she should at least get to know you. Get to see that you are important to me and then we can go from there. My decisions up until the past few weeks have been on occasion unacceptable and I'm sorry I've made you feel like you were second to all in my life."

She untangles her left hand from my grip and cups my cheek, running the pad of her thumb over the tear that starts to sneak down my cheek. "You're first. I can choose that. I do choose you. I may not have shown it, but since the moment I saw you…well, I couldn't have chose different if I had wanted and I never ever wanted anything – anyone else." She swallows and smiles again. "So let's do this. I'm an ass, you're an ass. We've both acted in ways that have been embarrassing and hurtful. I'm so tired of not having you by me. Three weeks is too long."

I nod under her touch and can't help the grin. The tightening in my chest increases as she pulls me up and sits me in her lap. I look down at her and amend her confession, "We still need to figure out how we're going to work some of this out."

She nods against my forehead. "Nikki, shut up." Her right hand wraps around the base of my neck tangling in my hair. She draws me to her lips and I accept the invitation, greedy and needful.

Lips meet and I can't remember how to breathe let alone my own name, but I swear there was something I needed to do as Nora shifts and I straddle her waist. Her tongue slides past my gasping lips as her hips buck against me.

Pulling back for breath, my head clears briefly and I remember. Smiling I reach past her and grab the cordless phone sitting on the end table. I quickly punch in Darius' number as Nora slips her shirt off. My mouth goes dry looking down at perfection as Darius picks up, "Yo."

"Go home," I mumble and drop the phone into the cushions.

_And all at once I am whole again,  
>We fall into each other,<br>Your atmosphere is all I'm breathin' in_


	9. A Fool For You

Part II – I Walk the Line

_Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you.  
>Because you're mine, I walk the line<em>

Chapter 9 – A Fool for You

The natural highlights in her hair are set ablaze from the early afternoon sunlight filtering through the balcony doors in the living room. I stare down into her golden brown eyes, refusing to break our locked gaze as she settles back into the couch, her hand between us guiding the head of her strap-on into me. My head drops back and my eyes flutter shut as she stretches and fills me.

It's as close to a religious experience as I've ever come to…when it's her and I like this. Gently she rocks her hips and I groan.

"Nora," she whispers against my neck.

I roll my head forward and fully rest on top of her, letting my legs go slack on either of side of the brunette underneath me. I smooth down her wild mane and lock my fingers behind her neck, holding on. "I'm here," I moan and lean forward resting our foreheads together, "just don't, please, don't stop."

At my appeal, she nods against me and crushes our lips together. I don't fight her for dominance. I give her everything I have as her tongue pushes into my mouth. Her hands grip my hips, her fingertips digging into my flesh. I'm pretty sure I'll have bruises, but honestly…I'd be upset if there weren't any when all is said and done.

I let her guide me, use me for her own end. Our bodies collide together as she pumps her hips up and shoves me down onto her. Pulling back, she rasps, "I need to see you." She says this as she rolls her hips. We clash together in such a way that short circuits pretty much every thought I could ever possibly give birth to except the most base…hers.

.Hers.

"Nora," she grits out again.

I manage to open my eyes against the onslaught of sensation, her breasts moving against my body, sliding and hitting my own, her left hand gripping my hip and guiding me while her right hand snakes between us. I feel her deftly find my clit, circling my nerve bundle before ghosting over it, a pattern she repeats to tease and torment me.

I look down at her and I bite my lip excited and breathless by the emotions I see. Her left hand moves from my hip to underneath my thigh, a signal for me to prepare. I nod my head just a fraction of an inch before she moves us. Swiftly, with more strength and grace than I thought her capable, she has me on my back, pumping into me while I wrap my legs around her hips, drawing her in as deep as our bodies will allow.

The smacking becomes a little louder, our grunts and moans a little deeper and she swallows my 'dear Jesus' as her mouth covers mine. Matching her thrusts, we find a rhythm that she can use to her advantage. Her end of the strap-on is nestled between her outer lips, pressing into her clit and I know that with each thrust, she's getting as much if not more enjoyment out of taking me than I am out of being taken.

I pull away needing air and she gasps, "Oh, dear Christ on toast." My hands move for the first time since settling behind her neck as I run blunt nails down the length of her back. The action earns a hiss from my lover and I grin despite the increased pace of her inside me. Gone is the rhythmic push and pull of our union. Once we changed positions, we abandoned any sense of care and are intent on one goal.

I lean up and latch onto a nipple, biting and sucking the piece of flesh. Her free hand wraps itself in my hair, pulling it tight against my scalp and holding me in place. Her reaction to my touch is twofold, the first is the stilling of my hips as my orgasm rocks through me, halting my movements and locking my muscles, the second is the blind pumping of her hips as I feel her stiffen and ride out her own release above me. I manage to draw my legs tighter, making sure there is no space between us as we shudder and writhe together.

With a few final thrusts she stills and collapses on top of me. I kiss my way up her chest and seek her lips while moving us so that even though she's still inside me I can let her snuggle into my chest. Smoothing her hair away I kiss her cheek, her temple, around her eye and down her nose. We don't need words, but I know she needs reassurance. My left hand traces random patterns down the smooth, slick, heated skin of her back.

The strap-on is a new thing for us in the bedroom. I brought it home a few months prior and it took a week of cajoling and gentle assurance that it was definitely something I wanted before Nikki put it on and literally left me so spent I could barely remember my name. We haven't used it since, except for today.

"Hmmm," she moans against my chest and shifts her lower body earning a hiss from me. That stills her movements and I groan in response as I'm entirely too sensitive for her to even think about moving right now.

"Stay," I manage to hiss out.

"But…," she protests worry creasing her brow.

I press a finger to her lips and quietly say, "I…I like being connected to you this way, please, a few more minutes and then you can…"

"'Kay," she whispers and smiles at me in a way that lets me know she gets it. It's something that she does. I mean I know that sometimes we do suck in the communication department, but sometimes, we're so in sync that words seem pretty damn pointless.

As her breathing evens out and steadies to a gentle tempo, I know she's asleep. Her soft snore a tender reminder that she did indeed pass out on top of me. Unable to not smile at the way we have ended up on my couch, I pull the sheet that was carried out earlier over us and snuggle back down into the soft leather of my couch.

We've spent nearly two whole days here. Not leaving the apartment and barely eating as I reacquaint myself in the most biblical way with Nicolette Beaumont. We've talked a lot, we've even cried a bit, both trying to understand each other and what it is we think we're doing. Sometime between the second round of crying and fifth round of sex, I think we finally reached an agreement about us.

Since then, little's been said and I'm going to be hard pressed to walk properly all this coming work week.

It's been a great weekend.

Well this wasn't how I saw this happening. I had thought that when Nora was ready, she would sit down, more than likely with her brother, Bobby, and explain in a very Nora like fashion that she loved me and planned on staying with me for the foreseeable future. The 'Nora like fashion' would have been my girl at her most determined and best with a glint in her that brooked no room for argument. I'm sure she would have used the words 'gay' or 'lesbian'. I'm not too sure it she would use the word 'queer', but gay would have been in there.

Her coming out to her brother would not have been while my right leg was slung over her shoulder and the other planted wide on the floor as she was between my thighs. But things never seem to go to plan. As of late, things that have been planned have been going to pot and we, Nora and I, are left to clean up the mess.

Which is why I'm biting on my non-existent thumb nail wrapped in a sheet, toga style while Nora's clutching an afghan around her naked form while her brother stands there gob smacked. He looks pretty much the same since he walked in on us a few moments ago.

"Uh, why…uhm," he stammers and looks in my general direction. He hasn't been able to meet either of our eyes. Of course if the roles were reversed and it was my sister that I walked in on…I might just have reacted the same.

Oddly enough, I feel for the young man.

"Can you give us a moment?" he asks thickly.

And there is the million dollar question. After some of the headway Nora's made, how much is this going to affect her? Affect us? Will she go back on her invitation to her mother's? Will this all just be a little too much because she is nowhere near ready to come out to anyone in her family, least of all to her baby brother who near worships the ground my girl walks on?

I'd be lying through my teeth if I didn't feel the cold, greasy hand of fear clench around my insides waiting on Nora's reaction. Knowing that I do need to give them some space, I nod mutely and begin to head back to her bedroom when I hear, "No."

No what?

I turn around and Nora's standing there, shifting her weight from foot to foot, her eyes wide and darting between Bobby and I. Her fist clenches the throw she has around her body and she gnaws at her lower lip.

I raise an eyebrow and she blurts, "No, what you can say to me you can say in front of Nikki, but uh, clothes are a good idea…I think." With that she stomps towards me, grabs my hand and yanks me down the hall, slamming her bedroom door shut to leave Bobby alone in the living room.

Okay…I'm not really sure…

"Nik, clothes please?" Nora pleads and I shake my head to clear the thoughts. She needs reassurance right now.

I guess standing around in her bedroom looking more than a little dumbfounded isn't helping matters.

I quickly throw on a pair of her sweat pants, shuddering as they slide up my legs. I can't believe I'm being reduced to sweat pants right now and Nora tosses me a t-shirt to put on. The sheet pools at my feet as I let it fall while I slip the t-shirt on. No panties, no bra. I feel a little exposed, but Nora isn't putting on any either.

This day's just got a whole helluva lot more interesting. "Nora," I try.

She holds her hand up to me and shakes her head. "I…" She stops and sighs. "This is just three counties over from fucked up and I have no idea what I'm gonna say, but…" her eyes skirt my feet and finally rise to meet my gaze, "but, I just… please don't leave?"

I nod and that's enough for a slight smile as she links our fingers together and leads us back out into the living room.

I can't help the smirk that spreads over my lips as I see Bobby sitting on the couch. The couch that not more than ten minutes ago, Nora was doing things to me on that God himself would be blushing over.

Nora's cheeks tint and she points at the couch unable to actually form words. Bobby looks between us, his sister's finger and then down at the couch before his eyes grow wide with realization. He hops up off the soft, brown leather like a gator was after his ass and moves to the far side of the room to rest against the left side of the fire place.

"Okay," Nora starts in, "Just what in the hell, Robert Eugene Delaney, were you thinking? Have you ever heard of a door bell? How about knocking? Is that such a fucking foreign concept?"

His cheeks, already red, flush with another round of color so deep that I fear the poor kid's gonna pass out. From the tips of ears to the top of his forehead clear down to the skin disappearing under his t-shirt is about as red as a lobster that's just come out of a steam bath.

"I, well, you…I didn't expect…I mean you to be doing, uhm, going…or uh," he stammers, rubbing the back of his neck furiously as he tries to find the words.

I think I should help him. "Yodeling in the canyon of love, tipping the velvet," I tap my finger to my pursed lips before grinning and drawling, "or my most personal favorite, going way down South in Dixie." I place my right hand on my hip and wink at my lover as she rolls her eyes at my words.

"Not helping, Nik," she clips.

She can't fool me though. I see the look in her eyes and if she wasn't so scared that her brother would rabbit out of here faster than I can say 'shoe sale', I'm sure my green eyed beauty'd be in stitches.

"All I'm doing, Nora, is offering you're brother several colorful ways to describe what he walked in on," I say as innocently as possible.

"I… is this new?" he asks.

Sighing Nora shuffles towards him. Her arms stretched out, her fingers manage to clamp over his forearm and he tenses. "Bobby, we need to talk about this."

He pulls away and slams into the wall. "I, uh…I just…what happened? You aren't…and what does this mean, have you always…what about Tommy and you aren't."

I'm sure there was a question in there somewhere.

For her part, Nora takes it well. She runs a hand through her tousled hair and says as evenly as possible through her clenched teeth, "I'm gay Bobby. Nikki and I have been together a little over a year and don't bring anyone else into this."

He blanches a little at the tone and admissions.

"I, uh…" he trails off and shakes his head. "I can't do this. It's not right Nora and you…I just…I need to figure this out." He makes a move to the door, but Nora's hand closing around his upper arm stops him in his tracks.

"Bobby, you can't say…" she tries to tell him.

Pulling away, he shakes his head and nearly whines, "I know. I won't say nuthin'." His eyes dart to me and he swallows. "No one will hear anything from me. I just can't deal with this right now." He moves quickly to the door and is halfway out when he says over his shoulder, "Ma's expectin' you and your guest. Don't not show up, it'll break her heart."

With that the door bangs shut and Nora deflates.

Damn. Double damn.

* * *

><p>The drive to my mother's is shorter than I would have liked. In fact, now that I'm sitting outside of my childhood home, I begin to seriously rethink this. I mean was this my best idea ever?<p>

No.

But damnit!

I went and listened to Ann. Then I listened to Jill. Then my mother.

Then, I did the really stupid thing and listened to my heart instead of my head and now Bobby's all freaked out. But that's okay.

I didn't expect him to take it well when I did eventually sit down and talk to him. Him walking in on Nikki and me well…

I think the word I'm looking for is traumatic.

For all parties involved.

And really now, I'm just a bit ticked off 'cause he totally killed the mood Nikki and I had been working on all weekend. I look over at my lover even as I feel her eyes skirt away from my profile to look at the walkway up to my mom's house. Unthinking, I reach over and lace our fingers together.

This is gonna be okay.

Not the brightest idea, but not the worst ever.

Nikki's brown eyes lock with mine and I smile. She gives me pretty much all the strength I need for this. I'm just glad that she's okay with how we're going to go about doing this. I think…

No, I know that she's being more than understanding. She's being supportive and the best about this whole situation. One day, maybe not soon, but one day things will change.

I just don't know how and this is the problem. I suck in my lower lip and begin worrying on it.

"Nora, it's gonna be okay." Nikki softly says. Her hand squeezes mine and she gives it a little shake. "We'll play this however you want to. I'm just honestly happy to be here."

I nod and close my eyes.

We can do this.

Sighing, I run my free hand through my hair and say, "I know. But that woman…she's gonna try to get personal. Pump you for information and the thing is, is that she means well. Honest to God Nikki, she does, but she can be persistent. Dog with a bone even." I pull back on the hand full of hair in my left hand and pull my scalp back the tension making me feel slightly better for some odd reason.

"Nora," Nikki whispers as her right hand caresses my cheek and jaw line, "I've grappled with the New Orleans elite since I was a child, hell bent on having every adult bow to my whim. They did and on occasion still do." She grins at me then and the blunt nail of her index finger scraps down my neck. "I am fairly confident in my ability to handle your mama."

I trust her. I believe in the smile she's sending me and I latch on to the confidence she's oozing 'cause right now mine went and took a vacation to Cancun.

I let go of her hand and get out of my car. Part of me realizes that it's just nerves, ya know. I've never, even Ann, I've never been this nervous about my family's reaction to someone I've brought home; even if the person I was bringing home was strictly in a friends capacity.

Part of me wants my mom to see Nikki the way I do, well, at least get an idea of the amazing woman she is so that if the day comes that Nikki and I are outed, she can't say that she hates my lover. We make our way up the steps and I open the door before I give a few quick wraps on the frame. I poke my head in first and hear, "Nora, honey, is that you?"

"Yeah, ma," I answer and step fully into the entry way. I usher Nikki through and hang our coats up. October can be downright chilly and today was no exception. It seems like winter's trying to settle in quicker this year.

My mom comes bustling out of the kitchen, apron on and hands covered in, I think, flour. I watch as she smiles coming towards us and I resist the irrational urge to step in front of Nikki to protect her. Nikki however has ideas all of her own as she steps in front of me and stretches out her hand.

My mother wipes her hand clean and greatly takes it. "Nancy Delaney," she introduces herself. "Nikki, right?"

Nikki gives my mom a beaming, hundred dollar smile and says, "Nikki Beaumont, ma'am. It's a pleasure to actually meet you."

My mother frowns a little in my direction and clucks, "Yes, well, Nora's never been the most social of creatures. I'm glad you could make it for supper. Dan, her old partner and well," she laughs lightly, "I guess your boss, used to come around every now and again. He is a charmer."

"Dan certainly is. He and Nora both made me feel very welcome to the department when I was first transferred." Nikki gently removes her hand from my mothers and clasps her hands in front of her.

"Nora, dear, why don't you give Nikki here the fifty-scent tour while I finish up in the kitchen," my mom says, not even bothering on waiting for my response.

I shrug and look at my lover. "So, this is the living room. The dining room's through there," I say and point to the room my mom just went through to get to the kitchen. "Kitchen's behind that swinging door and round the corner it opens up to the actual kitchen." I move to the living and room and point to the back door and the archway that separates the living room and kitchen.

My house isn't big or fancy. In fact, I don't think they've bothered to redo the carpet and wall paper in twenty years. But it was home for so long that part of me can't help but feel like a teenager again as soon as I cross the threshold.

"It's nice, Nora." Nikki says, placing a hand on my upper arm before stepping away and looking at the steps. "You've seen my father's. The only rooms that even come close to this type of lived in feel are the den and my bedroom."

I nod and lead her up the stairs. "This is the boys room," I open the first door on my left to expose a medium sized room with bunk beds on one side and a twin on the other. Two dressers and a small desk between the beds take up the space the room has. On the walls are pennants from our high school a few trophies for football that my brothers have gotten over the years. And for some reason the place has never been able to be fully aired out 'cause my nose scrunches a little as I breathe in the smell of old gym socks and sweat.

I pull my lover along and bypass my room to show her a quick peek at the master bedroom and then the bathroom before stopping at my old bedroom door. My brothers hated that I got my own room, but I was the only girl. My dad and mom made sure to make that a point in why I was getting separate quarters. "This," I say as I push open my old bedroom door, "is where I spent a good part of my childhood and formative years."

I watch as Nikki's eyes take in the small box of a room. It's barely large enough for a bed, desk and dresser, but it's my space. A few track and field trophies from high school sit on my dresser. A Michael Jackson poster from his Billy Jean days, Prince's Purple Rain and my one guilty pleasure from the era of my youth, a Dirty Dancing poster.

Nikki takes it all in and just smiles. I want to ask her what, but instead she backs me up against the bedroom door and grips my hips, pushing into me. Before I have time to protest, her lips are covering mine and I give in for the briefest of moments, basking in the feel of her; until the crippling fear of my mother searching for us comes crashing down on me and I gently push her away.

Surprisingly enough she just wipes her bottom lip and smirks. "I think I would have devoured the younger you, Miss Delaney." Then she taps the tip of my nose with her index finger before reaching around me and opening the door.

I move and watch her retreat down the hall and down the steps while I stand there, blinking and slightly dazed.

"Nora!" my mother's sharp voice breaks me free of the Nikki induced haze and I trot down the steps, "Bobby just called and he had to take an extra shift. One of the guys on his squad came down with some nasty bug. It looks like it's just us girls tonight."

I hit the landing and put my hand on my mom's shoulder, offering her a squeeze of sympathy. I wish my other brothers were around. Patrick's stationed in San Diego with the Marines as a drill instructor. Terry's married and living in Baton Rouge working with the National Guard. Bobby and I are it besides my three older cousins and my mom's sister, Gina and her husband. My three cousins are about as useful as tits on a boar hog, but they're a lot of fun and also police officers. None of them want to move past a position in uniform.

I join Nikki and my mom at the table as the two chat amiably with the other. We pass the food around and Nikki holds her own in so many ways. She laughs at the right time and says all the right things. The two get on real well and it lifts a weight from my chest that I didn't know was there.

"So, Nikki," my mother says – she says it in this tone that I know all too well. It's the same damn tone she used to corner Jill and Ann with. "If you're schedule's as bad as my daughters, does that mean that you to haven't bothered to bring a date home?

Nikki laughs lightly and brings a hand to her chest. "Well," she says, taking a sip of the Coke she's been drinking, "I would love to say that my Friday nights are full, but work doesn't leave much time for me to find a suitable bachelor."

My mother clucks and shakes her head. "You girls really should just leave the crime fighting to the boys."

"Ma," I say gently. A little warning.

"If we left it to the boys," Nikki butts in ignoring me, "nothing would ever get done." She winks at my mom and the damndest thing happens, my mom nods in agreement.

The two of them share a giggle and I know that's my cue to tuck into my food and let them carry on. My mom never stood a chance with my girl.

For some reason my chest swells with pride and I grin like an idiot biting into the chicken my mom made.

* * *

><p>The drive back in the car is filled with Nora's classic rock. I turn the volume up just a little as Credence Clearwater Revival go to town on a live recording of Down on the Corner. I hum softly to the melody and Nora taps her fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. I turn in my seat, ignoring the seatbelt and just look at her.<p>

Her head bobs to the music and she's wearing this tiny smile. I'm not even sure she's conscious of it. I love seeing her like this. It takes her only a second of me staring before her eyes flick to me and she asks, "What?"

I shake my head and say, "Nothing, I just like lookin' at you."

"Uh-huh." She sucks in her bottom lip and then asks, "So uh, where…uh, where do you wanna go?"

I can only grin when I answer, "Home."

We pull up to a red light and she turns to me. There's uncertainty in her eyes and I don't like it. "Well, see, uhm, my home or your home?"

My mouth pinches and screws to the side. Sometimes my girl can be a bit dense. It eats up precious time occasionally. "Your place Nora," I say gently.

The light turns green and she gives me a curt nod before moving forward with the few other cars on the road. I lean back in my seat and rest my head against the back window, sighing just a little. Dinner with Nora's mom went well. She's a nice woman who loves her kids and I think, happens to be a little lonely.

Maybe we can change that a little bit even if Nora goes on her own for dinners to her moms. I can go see my daddy or maybe even Darius can come too. We'll make it a habit of sorts and Nora can quit feeling as guilty as she usually does.

There've been a lot of firsts this weekend and I can't say that one of them was even remotely bad. One thing I'm amazed at is that we go practically three weeks barely managing civil conversation or for that matter dialogue that takes up more than five minutes of our days, but the one request…

It made it all different.

Well, that and I got a call from Ann laying into me Friday that would have left a saint feeling two inches tall. I should have been upset that that woman was butting her nose into things that didn't concern her.

For some reason I wasn't. She knows Nora in ways that I don't. Much like Darius knows me in ways that Nora can't know me. I can't be jealous of that.

"Nik, you gonna come in or you wanna sleep in June Lee? God knows we've camped out in her a few times for stakeouts, but…" she trails off waggling her eyebrows at me.

Smartass.

God, she's amazing.

I hop out of the car and follow her upstairs. We get inside and she puts our jackets away. I mosey into the living room and she follows shortly thereafter bringing with her a bottle Knob Creek and two rock glasses. She does know that I love a decent whiskey.

I watch as she kicks off her shoes and pours us a glass each.

"Babe," she whispers swinging a fingerful of whiskey in front of my eyes. I take the glass and sigh contentedly as she straddles my waist and sits on my knees. Her hands begin drawing random swirls and patterns on my neck and the exposed skin of my chest. "Why'd you wanna come back here?"

I look up at her then and let the corner of my mouth tilt up ever so softly then admit, "'Cause sugga, in case you didn't notice, my apartment feels weird without you there. Why do you think I was at my daddy's."

I set my now empty glass down and pull her upper body flush with mine. My face nestles conveniently between the valley of her breasts. I inhale and my head swims.

I think my girl's wearing far too many clothes for me to be even remotely happy. I pull back and lift her shirt off. She stops my attempt at nuzzling the exposed flesh cupped in a lacy purple brassier and says, "If I gotta get naked so do you." Her grin is just this side wicked and it causes a ripple of shivers to course down my spine.

I sit up and let her undo the buttons on my blouse and shove the garment off, to nip at my exposed shoulder. Her lips trail up my neck to nibble on the shell of my ear. Knowing that I need her naked and flat on her back, I grip her bottom and stand. Her legs lock around my waist, but her mouth doesn't stop as I stumble towards her bedroom.

We crash into the open door, through it and land in a heap on her unmade bed. Disregarding my need to be smooth, I pop the button on her jeans and tug them and her underwear down her hips and off her legs, taking her tennis shoes with them. They go somewhere in the direction of the floor while she sits up and removes my own slacks and panties. I'm not entirely sure when I lost my heels, but right now I could care less.

Her hands grip my hips to pull me back down; leaving us only in our bra's which are quickly discarded as we scoot up towards the pillows. She leans up fusing our mouths together and her left leg slips between my thighs.

We break for air and I mumble against her panting mouth, "Fuck this."

This earns me a giggle as I slide down her body. I settle between her legs, placing her right leg over my shoulder and slipping my hands under her bottom to lift her up to me. My eyes dart up to meet her lidded gaze and I grin before lowering my mouth. I suckle, lick and nip my way through her. Her moans offer direction to my tongue, teeth and lips. Drinking her in, she tenses around the fingers I have moving inside of her in far too short a time frame, but I hold on to her, letting her ride out her release. Finally she stills, collapsing onto the bed, her leg falls to the side, off my shoulder.

Gently, I remove my fingers, licking them clean then kiss my way up her body. I position us so that her head is pillowed on my chest and I draw the blankets around us. Sleepily, she snuggles into me and I kiss the top of her head.

Her voice is raspy but hushed as she mumbles into my chest, "We should start looking for a new place."


	10. A Close Watch

_I keep a close watch on this heart of mine  
>I keep my eyes wide open all the time<em>

Chapter 10 – A Close Watch

My leg bounces on its own. I wish it would stop, but doctors and shrinks alike all give me the same type of creeps. The creeps that give me an urge to bolt for the nearest exit at top speed and never look back. I haven't yet for two reasons: the fact that Nikki is sitting across from me and the looks she keeps sending my way and the other is because if I don't do this, I'm stuck at my desk and playing at being Dan's file bitch for the foreseeable future.

That's not happening.

So here I sit, on a chilly but bright Tuesday morning in early November, my leg bouncing up and down a mile a minute with Nikki rolling her eyes at me every few minutes. The department shrinks office is actually in our building, which is nice, but it's on the fourth floor and the space has only one window through which to view the deceptively cool morning.

The receptionist sits behind her desk, in the neutral toned office, clicking away at her keyboard. Her phone buzzes and she picks it up, "Yes…okay." She swivels in our direction and smiles at me. Young, okay looking, couldn't hold a candle to Nikki, but she's got kind eyes and says, "Detective Delaney, Dr. Williams will see you now."

I nod and swallow the lump in my throat. Standing, I wipe my palms on my jeans and head towards the door to his office. Before walking through the now open doorway, my hand on the knob, Nikki says behind me, "Knock 'em dead tiger."

Then she snickers.

She will be getting paid back for that.

I'm not sure when, but I will exact revenge.

I square my shoulders, ignore her and close the door behind me.

This isn't the first time I've been in here. Probably won't be the last; it still doesn't mean I have to get used to it or like it. The doc sits in one of the soft cushioned, nearly lay-z-boy chairs that surround a small coffee table. He stands and smiles as I take him in, six-foot-two with a halo of wispy brown hair around his otherwise shiny head, salt and pepper beard, myopic brown eyes and a cheesy grin.

Sometimes I hate my job.

"Detective Delaney, it's good to see you," he says offering an outstretched hand.

I smile at him and nod taking his hand in mine, it's cool and dry, a stark contrast to my warm slightly clammy one. "Sir," I say and take an open seat.

We settle in and he takes a file from the coffee table, gives it a cursory glance inside and then looks up at me. "I was just reviewing the information from your last job. Interesting case."

I shrug. It was a case. People didn't die. The bad guys were caught. It was an okay day despite the havoc it wrought on my personal life.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asks, crossing his legs.

Great.

What is this shit? I mean we're cops. We know the score signing up that we get to see the worst and handle the fall out.

"There's not a whole lot to say," I offer him.

"Okay, well then let's get a few things out of the way. I know that you really don't want to be here. If the brass hadn't said it was required for you to see me to get back out there then you and I would probably never cross paths," he says this like he's reading a menu at a restaurant. "So let's make this easy on both of us. I need to know if you are fit to return to work. I'm going to ask you a few questions and then we can go from there. Is that fair?"

I sigh. "Yeah."

"At the scene, Agent Meagan Diea of the A.T.F. approached you, your partner, Special Agent Ann Flemming and Detective Nikki Beaumont; please tell me about the altercation."

"Agent Flemming and I had just come out of hangar seven-two-dash–six after securing our suspects and clearing the hangar. The explosion caused a temporary hearing loss, a few cuts and scrapes, but we were required to have medic check us out. Agent Flemming's boss, Director Malone was insistent. Detective Beaumont showed up at the scene with our Lieutenant, Dan Harney." I say all this in the exact same voice I use when giving testimony on one of my cases. Clear, concise and to the point, my tone and inflection strictly professional. "While Flemming, Beaumont and I were talking, I saw Diea approach. I couldn't hear her very well, but the way that Beaumont reacted I knew that Diea was upset. I stood to talk to the agent when my partner, Nikki Beaumont, stepped in front of me and hit Agent Diea."

"And why did Detective Beaumont assault Agent Diea?" he asks.

"Agent Diea was coming after me. Her fist was cocked and it looked like she was going to hit me. My partner protected me," I answer and shift in my seat.

"And then," he says flipping up a few pages in the file that he has on his lap, "You proceeded to hit the other agent with Diea. Why?"

"He was going to hit my partner," I say. My teeth go back to clenching together before I amend, "Look, you don't come after other officers. My partner had my back and I had hers."

The doctor nods and lets the pages fall that he was holding up. "Fair enough. The report here also indicates that you and Agent Flemming had prior knowledge of the explosives set to detonate. Is that true?"

I nod. "There were a string of similar operations ending the same way. We knew going in that charges may or may not go off."

"Why not stop and evacuate prior or why not make the arrests beforehand?"

"Did you read the full file?" I ask.

"Yes. What I'm interested in is the fact that two seasoned officers went in knowing that the place they were going into was a ticking time bomb. Why?" He raises his eyebrow at me and smiles. It's supposed to be disarming and I'm sure it works for a lot of people.

It doesn't work for me.

"The situation dictated that the bust happen. We weren't just trying to collar the Sung's. There were bigger players that we needed to ferret out. Ann and I going in knowing the situation was hot was the best and safest option."

"So you two decided to be the sacrificial lambs?"

"No, it wasn't like that. You know just as well as any other cop that it's part of the job. That's what we were doing. Why I'm even here is completely beyond me. I socked an agent who was getting ready to hit my partner. I stopped that from happening shortly after I helped make one of the best collars a joint venture with two federal agencies and the N.O.P.D. have ever had. I'm sitting here getting the third degree from someone who doesn't have a clue what it's like to put their ass on the line," I spit, jaw clenching and completely fed up with this bullshit.

He's sitting there making it sound like I'm a cop on a suicide mission. Yes, Ann and I knew that it was dangerous. We assumed the place was already wired with explosives before we went in, but to us there wasn't an option.

We took a gamble and came out ahead. John collared the director inside the F.B.I. who was dirty, we stopped a family of gun smugglers and the good guys went home in one piece while the streets were marginally safer.

In what reality is that not a win?

He grins at me then and tosses the file on the coffee table. "Fair enough, Detective." He rises from his chair and motions for me to stand with him. "I think we're good. If you could send in Detective Beaumont before you leave."

I nearly run out of the office. It's not like I need to be told twice. Far more important things that need to be done.

* * *

><p>I look up as the door to the inner office swings open and Nora comes striding out. She nods at me and says, "He's ready for you. I'm going to grab some coffee and wait."<p>

She offers no other acknowledgement before striding out the door.

I suppress my smile. My girl hates, absolutely hates, doctors and by her tone and posture, the conversation they had didn't end that well. Or maybe it ended well enough. She didn't shoot or deck the doc.

I walk through the open doorway and our shrink is sitting in his chair. He stands and greets me in probably the same fashion that he does every other cop that comes through here. I wonder how many of them give the man a hard time.

He looks no worse for the wear and I smile easily.

"Detective Beaumont, nice to meet you. Why don't you take a seat and we'll get started," he indicates a chair across from him and is it odd that I know this is where Nora sat while she was in here.

"What?" he asks, resuming his seat and picking a file from the small stack on the coffee table.

"I'm just thinking my partner gave you a run for your money," I say, smiling.

He laughs easily and nods. "Detective Delaney is…my father used to say firecracker for the little girls in our neighborhood that were feisty."

"Nora is that, doc," I agree with him.

"Well at least we can agree on that, but let's not talk about your partner's temperament. I'm sure you have a better working knowledge of it than I. I was reading things over and it looks like you two have been working with each for nearly two years."

"There abouts," I confirm, crossing my legs and resting my clasped hands on my top knee.

"You work well together?" he asks easily mirroring my posture.

"We do. She's a good cop and a good partner."

"These last sets of cases you worked, was that the first time you two worked independently of each other since transferring in to Special Crimes?" Doctor Williams relaxes back in his seat and looks over at me blinking expectantly.

"It was," I answer. I'm not really going to make this that easy on him.

"And your last closed case involved a little boy, Lance. He confessed to the murder of his parents." He's done his homework. That was to be expected. But he ruins it when he follows up a statement of the facts with, "How'd that work out with you?"

I smirk. "You mean to ask, how did that make me feel?" I roll my eyes for good measure.

He clucks his tongue and shakes his head slightly. "I see. Okay, Detective, I'm going to give you the same little speech I gave your partner. I'm not the enemy. If it weren't required as a condition of you going back on active duty, you wouldn't be here. Having said that, it's my job to ensure that you are mentally fit to return to duty given the circumstance surrounding your suspension. Let's make this easy on both of us."

"Fine," I say crossing my arms over my chest. "If you were to have an eight year old look at you and say that he stabbed his mother and father to death, how exactly do you think that would make you feel? It was awful. It is also an unfortunate aspect of the job." I unfold my arms and sit up a little straighter.

"Cops get to see the worst. We're depicted as the enemy in the media; the public doesn't like us because we hold a certain modicum of power over them. You add that in to the fact that you get to see the worst people have to offer their fellow man and an eight year old killer and all in doc, it makes you feel like shit," I give it to him straight. "But that's okay. I did my job, I do my job well."

He nods at that and says, "You do. You're record is exemplary. What I'm curious about is why you chose police work."

I raise an eyebrow. "Because I felt I could do some good," I give him the pat answer.

"Do you think you decking a federal agent is good?"

My eyes narrow and I snip, "When said agent is coming after my wounded partner, bent on causing her more hurt, you bet your ass. I was protecting the cop that watches my back. She's lucky all she came out with was a bruised jaw and wounded ego. You don't go after fellow officers, federal or local."

He grins a little. "You know your partner said almost the exact same thing."

"Well," I huff, "We see eye to eye on a lot of things."

"That's not surprising. Reading over your service files, both you and Detective Delaney have both lost a parent. You both climbed quickly through the ranks of the department. You two seem to be a good match. One question, and do me the service of answering honestly, since this was the first time you two have been required to work independently of the other, the protection of your partner seemed a little excessive. Why?"

I purse my lips, trying to gauge just how much I should give. I decide on a variation of the truth. "The case Detective Delaney was working was dangerous to begin with. Add in the way the bust went down and her condition at the scene, I was worried. My reaction to Agent Diea was a little excessive, but I feel that it wasn't completely unwarranted. Agent Flemming and Detective Delaney did their best to keep everyone safe and make the bust at the same time."

"Did Diea attack first?"

"Yes and no. She was yelling, coming at the three of us. She had her fist cocked back and made a move towards my partner. I reacted accordingly. You should ask the agent why she chose to try to assault a member of the police force," I say.

"We did ask, well their version of me did. That discussion was enlightening."

"I bet," I snicker and he grins.

"So, now the question becomes this, where do we go from here? I can only infer from your jacket and personal history, that there's something there. Much the same way that I can only infer from your partners."

"And just what exactly does that mean?" I ask, not sure if I really want to know the answer to the question.

"It means that I have to make an educated guess. It also gives me the ability to stick my nose in where it may or may not belong. I'm responsible for you in a way. So I'll say this and then you can join Detective Delaney back at your desks. Fear is powerful. It can be a great motivator or it can stop someone dead in their tracks. You both need to keep that in mind."

He leans forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees as he says, "I would have given your partner the same advice, but she wasn't as receptive. I suggest you take a look at what those fears are and make a decision."

I purse my lips and snip, "I can leave?"

He nods and I stand moving towards the door.

"Detective," he calls out, as I'm halfway out the door, "Believe me when I say I understand. If you need to talk, my door's open."

I roll my eyes and step out into the waiting room. Nora stands, greeting me, tucks a paper under her arm and follows me out.

* * *

><p>I follow my brown-eyed beauty out the doors of the department and towards June Lee. She's being insistent that we go out for lunch. After the shrink visit we swung by our desks, picked up our messages and then Nikki promptly declared that she needed to get away.<p>

I'm not too sure what happened inside that office, but when she came out her hackles were raised in a stunning fashion. I knew better than to say anything so I tucked the classifieds under my arm and followed her out.

"So, where are we going?" I ask as I turn my baby over and look over at Nikki.

"Head over to Broussard and 9th. I'm gonna introduce you to the best deli our city has ever seen."

The area that she's sending us to isn't that great. Over in the fourth ward and not the best, but if the food's good, I've got a couple of vests stashed behind the bench seat of my car.

The ride is silent as she plays with the stereo. Nikki can't really seem to settle on a station and I'm about ready to turn the damn thing off when she settles on a soft jazz station that's at least playing something decent. I recognize the melody as a Dizzy Gillespie tune that's arrangement has been altered. I can't figure out who's playing the cover though.

That will work.

We come to a light and I look over at her. Nikki's head rests on the back window, her eyes are closed and there's a slight frown on her face. I purse my lips and accelerate as the light turns green.

Without opening her eyes or turning to me, she says, "At the next light hang a right and find a parking spot. We're going to Gumpy's."

I follow her direction and shortly thereafter we are sitting in small corner booth. Nikki's placed both our orders and is looking rather proud of herself as she sips on her Diet Coke. Deciding that now's as good a time as any, I pull the paper from my back pocket and slide it over to her.

While she was getting shrunk, I went and grabbed some coffee and a paper. Luckily, there were some places that are up for rent that look promising. The ones closest to work and that didn't read like they needed to be doused in bleach and/or required a crime scene cleanup crew or a contractor, I circled.

I gnaw on my lip and let her look the paper over.

As it slides into her line of sight, she looks up at me. Her eyebrow is arched and her brow is furrowed.

"What's this?" she asks with a cluck of her tongue.

I try for a sheepish smile given the fact that she's been…crabby, yep, we're gonna go with crabby, since we left Williams' office. And I get it. I wasn't too pleased either…the prick.

"Well, uh, apartment listings. I was thinkin' we should start looking. I mean my place and your place really aren't that big, but if we…when we move in together, I know we'll need more space." I try to lighten the mood a little and tease, "You're wardrobe and shoe collection alone could probably take a spare bedroom or two."

Her nose crinkles as she sticks her tongue out at me and says, "Just 'cause my spare bedroom closet is packed to the hilt…"

"And your hall closet too, Nik," I gently remind her.

She huffs and blows the bangs from her eyes. "And what brought this on?"

I gape at her a second before I shut my mouth. Does she not remember? It really hasn't been that long.

"You. Me. Finding a place together? Did you forget I said we should start looking?" I remind her a little hurt and a little annoyed that I'm hurt.

"Oh," she says, blinking. "I thought that was you in post," her voice drops as a few patrons pass by, "orgasmic bliss, talking nonsense."

I squint at her, my left eye nearly closing. Deciding that she's not joking, I school my features and resist the twitch in my hand to find hers. Instead, I lean forward, my left index finger stabbing at the paper. "Look, despite our joint idiocy over the past few weeks, I meant every word I said Nikki. I know what I want."

"And that would be what, Nora?" she asks, so casually that I'm half tempted to kick her under the table.

My jaw clenches and it takes every ounce of control I have to not kick her or gather her in my arms right now. They're duel emotions, the need to reassure and the need to knock some sense into her, that war for dominance. "Nikki, I'm not real clear on what you're playing at, but let me make these intentions of mine perfectly clear," I annunciate slowly, so that she hears every word I have to offer, "I'm very certain that it's you. It's us. So suck it up Beaumont and get on the damn train."

She gives nothing away as she leans back in the booth, her arms fold across her chest.

"I don't wanna argument from you. We're going apartment hunting," I state, jabbing the paper for good measure and amend, "So look these over while I find a restroom."

It's then that she leans forward her arms dropping to her side and comes so close I can almost reach out with my tongue and lick the tip of her nose. I go slightly cross-eyed trying to keep her in focus, but I don't pull back and manage to see the small smirk forming on her lips.

"You do know," she purrs, "You getting worked up like this is incredibly sexy."

I pull back and scowl at her.

She leans back again and offers a very cheeky grin. "Why don't you go powder that cute, button nose of yours while I find us a place to live." With that she picks up the paper and begins scanning the print.

I shake my head and slide from the booth we're occupying. Not entirely sure how to gauge that entire interaction I find the restroom and lock the door behind me. I let the cold water run a minute before leaning over and splashing my face.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand and ten times, Nikki Beaumont will be the death of me.

My problem is that I really couldn't think of a better way to go.

I tap my index finger against my nose and peer into my closet. I'm having the damndest time figuring out what I should take over to Nora's. It was agreed when she dropped me off at home that I would gather some things to stay over at her place for the week while she went and tracked down that brother of hers.

I know he hasn't answered her phone calls and she's more than a little worried. Which means that I'm more than a little worried. His reaction wasn't the best, but on the upside it wasn't the worst.

"_Kouz_, that closet ain't gonna give you the meaning of life," Darius teases me. He stopped by shortly after I got home and now the smart ass is sitting on my bed.

"I just don't know what to take over," I pout. I spin on my heel and sulk back to the bed, flop down on my back and giggle as he lies down with me while poking me in the ribs.

"Clothes are good. Maybe a toothbrush, hairbrush, that fancy ass perfume you're so fond of," he says grinning at me. He opens up his arms and I accept the invitation.

Snuggling into his side, I lay my hand across his chest and loosely gather his t-shirt in my fist. "So, what have you been up to today?"

I feel him shrug underneath me as his hand runs through my hair. "Was at the studio helping a few people out. Gram needed me to take her to the store. Nothing too serious."

I roll my eyes. Darius may fool most. He can't fool me. This man has his finger in more pies than anyone I know. He has a zydeco band, he works part time at a music studio helping young NOLA artists produce demos and has on occasion written a few songs or two. He's got contacts with some of the largest charitable organizations in the city and with my help we get to steer the tax write off money for the blue bloods of the city to foundations and organizations that can actually use it. He's a saint and a half to his grandmother and not to mention he's my go to man for just about anything I need.

He really is way too good to me.

We just ain't gonna say anything about that though.

"Hmm, how was the studio?" I ask.

"It was pretty cool. There's this group of kids trying to get a demo together to submit for this national contest. Yabo's trying to help them get it together. I stepped in and I think, if they can lay the vocals right, it'll be a solid piece of music."

"And what about Trish?" I ask gently. Trish is his off again, on again girlfriend. I marvel at the fact that Darius had the gall to tell me to quit "fucking around" when he does that better than most.

Of course, my string of one night stands isn't really comparable to his serial monogamy. He just refuses to find a woman and commit.

I've never really been able to figure out why my boy won't settle down. There's usually some excuse he gives, "they're too needy", "they don't give me enough attention", "they don't like…" and then he'd insert one thing or another that was in his words, "not gonna fly with me." So I let him carry on.

The only thing is, is that this girl, Trish, has stuck around for the longest, we're hitting the five month mark and he's yet to provide me with an excuse about their breaking up which leads me to suspect that they are in fact, still together.

I hear him sigh above me and say, "She okay. We went out last night, took her to Phantoms and that bartender, Cassie, you introduced me to, hooked us up."

I angle my neck and look at him, a sly grin etching my features. "Cassie "hooked you up"? "

He nods, grinning down at me. "Said something about any friend of Nora's…speaking of, she and Cassie used to bounce?"

I scowl at him and slap his chest as he wiggles his eyebrows.

"You know that and you ain't ripped the girl's arms off?"

I pout at him and whine, "I'm not that bad."

I laugh and I feel his body shake. "Nikki, I'm not sure who you tryin' to fool with that bullshit, but seriously. Remember a few weeks back or okay a month and a half ago; I took you guys to that little club on the edge of the Quarter. The jock that tried to dance with Nora." He looks down at me, making a point with his smirk. "I thought you was gonna go to blows with the brotha."

"He copped a feel on my girlfriend!" I say indignantly.

"His hand brushed Nora's behind. That ain't copping a feel, that's an 'Oops, didn't see you standing there'"

I roll my eyes and say, "You're avoiding the question though, how are things with you and Trish?"

"Good. She's different. I like it," he answers.

"Well then, we're going to have to get together for dinner, how about next Monday. Nora and I are off and you shouldn't have anything going on?"

"I think that'd be cool. She's curious about you. She's seen the pictures at my place."

I was about to respond to that, but we're interrupted by a knock at the front door. I sit up and look at the clock on my dresser. Crap.

I'm not even packed.

"Do you..." I start to ask.

"I'll get the door. You finish packing," he interrupts, hopping off the bed, planting a kiss on top of my head and goes for the door.

He's such a charmer.

I get up and go to my closet. Selecting a few blouses and some pants, I put them in the garment bag hanging off my bathroom door. Shoes. I need to figure out what shoes.

"Hey," Nora says.

I spin around and smile at her.

"Why aren't you ready?" she asks, hands on her hips.

"I get a 'hey' and nothing more?" I tease stepping into her personal space. Not waiting on an answer, I pull her to me; our bodies flush, and plant a firm kiss on her pouty lips.

She pulls back and smirks. "Get your shoes and let's go."

I roll my eyes but do as requested. We need to get going. Early day and all that.


	11. Give Me Cause

_You've got a way to keep me on your side  
>You give me cause for love that I can't hide<br>_

Chapter 11 – Give Me Cause

I look over at Nikki. I'd vocalize my thoughts, but they're clearly reflected in her body language. She steps in and saves us, "Laura, I just don't think this is the right place either. I mean it's nice, but it's a little small."

The woman clucks. I grit my teeth. We started today off all nice and easy like, slow morning, hot sex and a phone call from Dan saying we need to meet him for lunch in, I look down at my wrist, two hours. Since Nikki and I didn't have to be in until later, we decided to use a friend of her aunt's to help us in the apartment hunt. She's dragged us to two up and coming neighborhood loft style, overpriced, yuppie apartments and the little patience I do have is trickling away.

The place we're at now, apartment number three, is…stuffy. That's the only thing that comes to mind. The walls are white or off white. The interior of the building doesn't match the brick and feel of the outside. I'd be afraid to sit down on anything in a place like this. Nikki feels the same, I know. The slight frown she wears is indication enough.

"Well," the realtor stammers a little, "When Peggy called she said it was for her niece." She looks pointedly at me, and qualifies, "And her niece's friend."

I roll my eyes.

Nikki smiles. It's a sexy look when not directed at me. If that happens, I run. "Aunt Peggy can be a dear and she's right, but my tastes are not hers. And neither are Nora's."

Laura bobs her head at this. Finally stopping to take a look at us. She looks me over like you would an outfit a in display case that you hated. Her blood red, manicured nail taps gently on her chin as she spins towards Nikki. "Hmmm," she hums.

Nikki's eyebrow rises as one hand comes to rest casually on her hip.

"Well, then, I guess we'll need to start fresh," she finally says. She looks at her watch then. "We're scheduled for another hour together. Why don't we find a spot to sit and if ya'll will answer some questions, I think I can find what you're looking for."

Nikki's eyes flick to me and I quickly raise and lower my right shoulder.

"Sounds wonderful, Laura. Thank you," Nikki purrs.

Laura actually blushes at this and I suppress the eye roll. I lead us outside and to a café that I noticed just up the street. The two sit as I offer to get the drinks. The line's short and I come back to the two of them chatting like old friends. Laura leans toward my partner from across the table as she giggles at something Nikki said.

Setting the drinks down, my teeth grind together and Nikki shoots me a quick wink. Sucking my teeth, I manage a nice fake smile and sit down next to her. It's going to be a long Q and A.

"So," the woman across from us starts, "What do you two do?"

"We're with the police department," I offer.

"Partners in the Special Crimes Unit," Nikki gives more detail.

I scowl and hurry up to qualify, "Work, uh, work partners." Nikki's thigh brushes against my leg right before I feel a sharp pinch to said thigh. I jump a little and Laura looks at me.

"So, we'll need two bedrooms." She looks us over again and asks Nikki, "Lots of closet space, I assume?"

"Or three rooms for her clothes," I mutter as I take a sip of my drink.

Another pinch and another jump as Nikki glares.

"Two bedrooms would be good. Something open, warm," my partner fills in.

Laura again bobs her head. "Well, then, what about price range? Are you looking to rent, lease, buy?"

My eyes grow large and I nearly drop my coffee.

"Preferably, rent, but we'd be open to a lease." Nikki bumps my shoulder with her own and jokes, "I'd say buy too, but my _work_ partner has commitment issues."

The coffee goes sloshing in my cup again. Some of it spilling out to burn my hand. I hiss and Nikki only hands me a napkin. Laura looks slightly amused.

I definitely don't like the woman. And what's this about buying? What, a house?

No, I don't think so. I mean I know I've been pushing Nikki now and I know that I'd like to make this permanent, but…

That's too much, too soon.

"I see," the realtor says. "Well, I can start looking around. See if anything comes up." She hands Nikki her card. "My cell is on the back. If you think of anything give me a call, anytime." With a slight hand brush as Nikki takes the card, Laura the Skanky Realtor excuses herself and leaves.

My partner and I sit there. She sips her drink and I fume. Okay so, on the occasion I've been known to be jealous. But I mean really? Did she really have to pretty much throw herself at Nikki?

Would it have hurt Nikki to casually mention that she's involved?

I go to take a sip and my stomach churns. Giving up, I set my cup down and push it away from me.

Finally, she sighs and snips, "You want to explain to me what that was all about?"

Do I wanna what!

My head snaps in her direction and she's looking at me, her brow knitted together, arms crossed over her chest.

Instead of dignifying anything right now with an answer, I stand and stride out of the café. Nikki's following me. Her heels have a distinct staccato beat on the concrete.

We reach June Lee, both of us yanking our doors open and throwing ourselves inside. Once the engine's turns over, I turn to her, my knee coming to rest on the space between us. "I've nothing to explain. Do you want to tell me what Little Miss Skanks-A-Lot was trying to pull with the obnoxious giggle and _'call me, anytime'_ bullshit?"

Nikki rolls her eyes. "'Work partners'? Really, Nora?"

Shit.

I deflate.

Fuck.

Trying to calm down, I run a hand through my hair and count to ten. Okay, she has a point. I just… "I panicked," I mumble.

"I'm sorry, detective; your _work_ partner didn't hear that. Come again?" she snips from across June's cab.

Deserved that too. "I panicked," I state clearly. "I'm sorry. It was a knee-jerk reaction."

"Hmmm, I'd say." She leans against the passenger side door.

"But," I try to say as unaccusingly as possible, "did you have to flirt with her?"

She looks at me from the corner of her eyes.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say…

I scratch the back of my neck and slump against my door. "I didn't mean…I…"

"I know," Nikki says softly. "I know how you are and it just caught me off guard. I thought that…we're two women getting a place together…" She sighs and turns towards me, our positions mirrored. "I thought that you'd loosen up a little. Especially about this," she admits, "She has no ties to the department and I don't see your mother running in the same circles. Peggy knows I'm gay, Nora. She knows who you are."

I'm a tool. A great big, sucky tool.

* * *

><p>Nora puts June Lee into park and kills the engine. It's nearly time to meet Dan and for some reason he chose to meet us at Goody's, a mom and pop style restaurant near Nora's apartment.<p>

My girl turns to me and again says, "I'm sorry."

Deciding that some mercy is called for, I reach for her hand and pull us together. We meet somewhere in the middle and she hesitantly wraps her arms around me. Returning the embrace, I bury my face in her neck and rest there a minute. I think we've argued enough today. I see why she freaked out. I also will admit that I really didn't stop Laura from making any advances.

"We're okay," I mumble into her hair.

She pushes me back by my shoulders. Tucking my hair behind my ears she kisses my nose and the corner of my mouth. "I'm going to eventually figure out why you're with me."

I smile at her and tap the tip of her nose with my finger. "I'm a sucker for closeted blondes that love me." I give her a soft smile and she grins back at me.

"You ready to go see Dan?" she asks.

I nod and follow her out of the driver's side door. We step into the diner and Dan's sitting at a booth already, a steaming cup of coffee sitting in front of him. My eyes narrow. I wasn't really pleased that he wanted to meet before we started work today. Nora and I aren't due in 'till four this evening and the location, well…it's close to Nora's place, but farther away than he usually goes from the station.

Of course, Dan seems to be breaking a lot of rules for his ex-partner. I'd like to think that Nora wouldn't lie to me about their shared past, but with this…

I can't be sure.

If I were into men, which isn't to say that I haven't tried it once or twice over the years and if Nora weren't in the picture, I may have even taken Dan up on the offer for drinks one of the many times he'd asked. He's hot. I can admit that, with the body, attitude and smile, you would have to be dead from the waist down to not be attracted. Couple all of that with warm brown eyes and the skin tone and smoothness to match, well…

Also, my girl and her ex-partner have a certain chemistry; I can't help but not think that she would give in to that. The two of them fall into an easy rhythm that goes beyond a work partnership.

I should know, I'm in one now.

I sigh as his face lights up as we approach. I run a hand through my hair, steeling myself for what he has to say. Sliding into the booth first, I say, "Afternoon, boss."

"Good afternoon, detective." He sips his coffee as Nora sits next to me then says, "Delaney."

"Harney," she grins back at him.

"Well, I must say, you two look very nice today. Did you get all prettied up for little ole me?" He wiggles his eyebrows at us, well more at Nora than me and we both roll our eyes.

"Cut the shit partner," Nora snips, "what's up?"

He sucks on his teeth, letting his tongue protrude from behind his bottom lip. He looks Nora over again and says, "You ain't gonna let me have any fun with this are you?"

She shakes her head and he turns to me, "Should I bother asking?"

I smile at that. "Touchy feely realtor," is what I give him and he nods.

"I take it the hunt for new digs isn't going that well?" With my smirk and Nora's glare he gets his answer. "Gotcha. Alright well, if this makes it any better, you two are cleared for field work. That should make it a little easier."

I relax marginally, but the grin that lights up Nora's face is priceless. I think she was starting to crack sitting at her desk so much.

"But," he says, "He may have mentioned that follow up visits wouldn't be a bad idea…"

"He can bite me and you can…" Nora interrupts him.

"Tah, tah, tah…lemme finish," he holds his finger up to Nora's lips and continues, "He said a follow up with you two wouldn't be a bad idea, but that it wasn't necessary." Removing his finger, he winks at us and finishes, "He says there are things that you two could take some time to work through, but it won't interfere with your work. He also says I should be glad to have detectives like you working for me."

I scoff, "Damn right you should."

Nora actually laughs and Dan just shrugs, saying, "I told him that I'd keep it in mind if there were any more outbursts such as the ones that landed you two in there to begin with."

"Meagan Diea can kiss my…" Nora starts.

"Now, now, sugga," I stop her from saying anything else.

"Listen to your partner, Delaney," Dan warns.

We all stop talking as the waitress finally comes up and says, "Looks like you're friends arrived. Sorry about that, I just saw you ladies sittin' here."

I can't blame her. The place is packed. So like good, understanding people, the three of us wave off her apologies and place our order. She skitters off only to return a minute later with our waters and coffee and a refill for Dan.

"So," Dan says, after our waitress leaves us, "Since you two are back out on the streets, you can continue the filing as time permits." He laughs at his own joke and I grab Nora's thigh to still her reaction.

I don't need to be suspended again.

"Bite me, Harney," she says instead. I'll take it.

"I figured as much," he sighs and looks over at me and then back to Nora.

I raise my eyebrow at the looks he's giving as I try and figure out what other angle he's trying to play. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm happy to get back out there just as much as Nora, but he could have told us this when we saw each other at work.

Needing to at least start the conversation again, I ask, "Was that all?"

He shrugs while Nora offers me a look. I dip my chin hoping to relay my thoughts via telepathy.

I know that won't work, but she has to at least see a little bit of what I do and that's what I'm hoping for.

"I thought it was so Dan could buy us lunch," Nora says.

Yeah, I always thought the telepathy thing was a load of horse manure anyhow.

"I just need to make sure we aren't going to have any more of those problems, are we ladies?" Dan looks us over again.

"Those problems?" Nora asks.

"I think he's talking about the two of us assaulting federal officers," I supply and Nora's lips purse.

"She's smart," Dan jokes.

I flip him off.

The waitress, Anna, comes by with our food. Cheeseburgers all around. No wonder we pay through the nose for health insurance. The three of us dig in and silently enjoy the meal. Goody's has excellent burgers. I'm not sure why, it may be the catsup to mustard to mayo ratio that they use or the red onions…no, wait, it's the Tabasco in the meat, that's why they're so damn good.

I look up as Dan takes a bite of a fry. He keeps skirting his eyes between Nora and me. We haven't talked about him knowing about Nora and I. Not between the three of us and maybe that's what this is about. Going off of the hunch I ask, "Dan, something wrong?"

Nora looks over to me, burger half raised to her lips and her eyes bulging. Laughing, I pat her on the head and explain, "Not that I don't appreciate the free meal Harney, but you've been looking at us funny since we sat down. Now it could be argued that I like to finesse a situation and tease the information out of people, but…" I send a small smile to Nora, "I'm a little on edge and if I can't be straight, pardon that pun, with my Leiu, than I've got problems."

Nora's burger lowers as Dan finally relaxes and settles into the booth, twisting the fork in his hand. It's then that the first genuine smile graces his lips. "Yeah actually there was." He winks at me and then looks at Nora, sobering slightly. "I do have an ulterior motive for getting you two out here. Nora, we were partners, but you always kept me at a distance. I'm your boss now, but that doesn't detract from my desire to be a friend."

I feel Nora tense, but do nothing to soothe her.

"Nikki yours too since I think it's a package deal now," he looks over at me and offers a lazy smirk. "I was thinking that we could go to dinner tomorrow. Drinks, play catch up and you two can tell me all about how in the hell this," he waves that fork between the two of us, "happened. The cop in me's dying to know."

Nora's eyes dart to me and I raise an eyebrow. "Uh, sure…" she answers.

* * *

><p>Nikki pushes into my side and points to a listing towards the bottom of the page. I scan the ad and shrug, speaking softly by her ear, "If you wanna go look, we'll go." I take a quick look at the clock. We've about two and a half hours before we need to be at work.<p>

"Hmm, 'kay. You want to shower before we go or can we just get dressed so I can smell you on me the rest of the night?" she whispers, leaning up to place a few kisses along my jaw line.

Shivers and shocks of desire play a small game of tag along my spine before I can find my voice, "I say we just get dressed. It's probably gonna be a slow night. We may even get to clear the crap on our desks tonight."

She nods against me and slips away, leaving a cold front on my left side. Groaning I swing off the bed in the opposite direction, looking around the room for my discarded clothes. Let's see, if I were Nikki and in a hurry to shed clothes…I would be…

I round the bed and pull open the half closed door. Aha! Lying in a small heap are my shoes, socks, underwear and pants. How she manages to divest me of four garments at once is still a mystery. I barely remember hitting the bedroom after she jumped me in the living room.

Gathering the items, I pad back to the bed and begin the process of getting dressed again. I can't wait to get to work. No more desk, no more cold cases or closed cases while wondering who in the hell developed the department's filing system 'cause it is a cluster fuck of nonsense.

Nikki comes out of the bathroom, clad only in her bra and underwear. The sight sort of stops my movements and she smirks. "You can't look at me like that sugga, if you want to get to work on time."

I roll my eyes. "You shouldn't be running around in your unmentionables if you don't want me to look at you like that," I retort.

Her big, brown eyes light up and she just smirks.

I ignore the smirk and finish getting ready. We manage to make it out the door with her reapplying both our lip gloss only twice. Luckily the listing she wants to go see is only a block and a half up from my place so by the time we get there we have some time to look around.

Small signs direct us down an ivy covered walkway that opens up into a well landscaped and quiet courtyard. A woman, with curly, short gray hair and glasses smiles up at us from behind a small folding table. "Good afternoon," she greets us.

"Hello," Nikki introduces us, "I'm Nikki. This is Nora. Are you showing the apartment?"

"I am. I was actually getting ready to close up." She looks between the two of us and shrugs, "But, if you'd like to look around, I'm more than happy to stick around." She stands and comes around the table.

She's short, maybe five foot on a good day with heels. I shake her offered hand as she says, "Mary. Would you like me to show you around?"

"That would be wonderful," Nikki answers for us.

By unspoken agreement, Nikki takes the lead as Mary leads us around. The place is huge, two stories, a staircase leading to the upper level is immediately to my left as we step through the French doors. The bottom floor is a kitchen, living room, second bathroom, small den and a spare bedroom.

I love it.

I look at Nikki as she looks around and see how much she's falling in love with the place. It's been renovated, but they've left things unfinished. The look just adds to the overall feeling of the place. The kitchen's large and opens up into the living room. The spare bedroom isn't anything to stick your nose up at; it's the same size as my bedroom now. Mary leads us up the stairs and I hear Nikki suck in a breath.

The stairs open up into an open space, with another set of French doors leading into a large open bathroom with a fireplace. An old claw foot tub is the center piece and Nikki nearly squeals. Moving through the bathroom, through another set of doors, is the master bedroom. Expansive, it's large enough to hold a king size bed and a few dressers. To my right is a decent sized walk in closet and to the left a balcony that opens up on to the courtyard.

I was sold on the place from a look at the downstairs, but the upstairs…I can see Nikki and I here and being very, very comfortable.

"Well, ladies, this is it," Mary says, spinning around to us.

"It's really very nice," Nikki says, sticking her head in the closet again. She leans back out and asks, "How much are they asking for rent?"

"Oh, dear," Mary fidgets for a moment and answers, "It's to purchase. The owners of the complex are going co-op and each unit; six in total are being sold. Five have been bought and this is the last unit."

"Oh," Nikki's mouth makes a cute little shape, "why was this last?"

"The contractors just finished up." She looks between the two of us and goes for it, "The asking price is one-hundred-thirteen and I think for you two, perfect for a couple starting out."

I start to sputter and say, "I…we're…"

Nikki's hand lands on my shoulder, giving me a small squeeze. I close my mouth with an audible clap and Mary just barely manages to stop her laugh. She does manage to grin and lays her hand on my forearm. "My granddaughter and her 'friend' just purchased their first home." She smiles warmly at me then pats my cheek. "Whatever gets you through honey, but I'll leave you and your friend to talk."

I gape at her as she disappears through another set of I didn't see then I turn to Nikki. She's laughing silently and holding her stomach. "Oh, sugga," she says, looking me over, "that was priceless."

I scowl at her and then realize what I was about to do again…"I, uh, well, she…"

Nikki pats my other cheek and leans into me. "It doesn't matter." Her eyes light up as she teases me, "Although, this" she waves a finger at me, "will give my plenty of opportunity to tease you endlessly."

I pout and fold my arms across my chest.

"Now, what about this place?" she asks, gathering me in her arms.

Slowly I relent and wrap my hands around her neck. "Nik, I would, but…"

"But what? We could you know," she says gently.

"Nik, we can't buy this place," I try to reason; "It's not in my budget."

Her mouth twists to the side and my eyes narrow.

Oh boy.

Ya know, I love my girl, especially when she's feeling guilty and wrapped up in my arms like she is now, but this, her stubborn streak about money, does wear thin on occasion. It's been a small theme with us, her inability to allow me to pay for things that she can't.

I usually let it go because I know my bank account makes her uncomfortable, but she's not winning this time. Using a little pressure, I press us together and say, "You know that's not really an issue, Nora. This place is perfect. The two of us together could make it work."

"Nikki," she half whines, "I know you don't struggle and I really don't know the size of that trust fund you have, but when we buy a place, it's something I want to do together."

I shake my head. "You don't know because you never asked…"

"Why would I…" she tries to say, but I stop her.

"No, now just hear me out. You say these pretty words about us building a life. This place is perfect for us Nora."

She pulls away from me and spits, "I'm not someone to be kept, Nikki. I won't live off of you."

Oh.

So that's what this is. I roll my eyes. I take a deep breath and change tack, just a little, "I understand Nora and I don't want you to do that. I want this to be our thing. Together." I reach out and turn her towards me again, hooking my fingers in her belt loops. "But you keep saying you want me. You want in, then it's all or nothin' sugga. Which means what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine." I smile at her, offering a small half grin that I know she likes. "So, if you're in this with me, which is what you keep saying, you can show me yours and I will show you mine, but you can't get all defensive about it when mine's bigger than yours."

I get an eye roll and press, "Get over it Delaney. If we're in, we're all in. Which means me and my trust fund are now yours."

My girl huffs and I just bat my lashes at her. I draw her closer and peck her chin. "The only thing using my money means is that we don't have to worry about the mortgage payments. If we do this, then afterwards, we'll sit down, together and set up a budget, together and stick to it…"

"Together," she finishes.

I nod. "Exactly," I say, but feel the need to amend, "Unless they have shoe sale and I need a new pair. In which case, budget be damned I'm shopping."

Laughing Nora shakes her head, rolling the ideas around in her head. She chews on the corner of her lower lip, letting me know that she's thinking about. I decide to put the final nail in the coffin of resistance and plead, "Baby, it's perfect. Please?"

For my pleasure, she huffs, blowing the bangs off her forehead. The huff is music to my ears. It's the sound of my baby giving in. And like usual, she doesn't disappoint, "Fine, we do this, but this is it. Budget. Nikki, you, me and very short strings on that purse of yours."

I squeal. I can't help it. I let her go and jump up and down and then wrap her up in a huge hug. She returns the embrace and I can't believe it worked. She's really gonna do this with me.

I grab her hand and tug her out of the bedroom and down the stairs. "Mary," I call out and see the woman sitting her phone down to smile at us.

"Well," she says, "What do you ladies think?"

I take one last look at Nora, who has a death grip on my hand, before saying, "We'd like to make an offer."

The older woman's face lights up and she gushes, "Oh, I'm so glad. There were a few others that came sniffing around today, but they just didn't feel right." She comes around the table and offers my Nora a genuine smile, one that I'd imagine a grandmother to possess as she beams at her grandkids. "You two feel right about this place. It's off the beaten path and private, but not too much so. If my Bea and her Kristen hadn't found that house, I would have just made them buy this one."

I laugh and decide instantly that Mary is my new favorite person. "Well, I think we should get the ball rolling."

"Eager, I see," she jokes. "What about you, dear?"

"Uh, I…" Nora stumbles.

Laughing, Mary just shakes her head. "You are just too much."

"She's a bit shocked, I think," trying to explain my lovers stuck tongue. "We weren't really expecting this…"

"Well," Mary waggles her finger between the two of us, "the best things usually come when you're not looking. At least that's always been my observation." She shuffles some paperwork in a pile and motions for us to follow her inside.

She leads us into the kitchen and plops the stack of papers on the kitchen island. "Why, my Frankie, he came outta nowhere when we were young." She gets this far off look in her eyes and then shakes it off. "He was something else. Had my daddy in knots on our first date." She looks through the stack and hands over some forms. "I think we can get started, if you two would like to begin filling out the forms here, while I collect some information."

I hand Nora the paperwork and she begins looking it over. I move behind her to peer over her shoulder. The forms are standard information that we'll need to provide. It does cause me to suppress the snicker. I guess the whole 'show and tell' I proposed is going to come sooner than I expected.

Not that I'm worried, but Nora wouldn't be the first woman that's been nervous about where I come from. What I don't get is the need to feel defensive about it. I get that I grew up privileged and that the majority of folk didn't.

Darius says that it's just not something I'll get. Maybe he's right. It took Erica forever to open up to me about it. I know I'm going to need to tread lighter with Nora. Her pride gets in the way of logic something fierce and maybe somewhere along the way she'll get to the point where I can begin to pamper her.

The need to want to take care of her and let her take care of me is near instinctual, she just needs to let the reigns go a little bit and trust me.

"You start filling these out," I say, handing her my wallet, "and Mary, you can ask away."

The older woman's face lights up and she pats the space next to her. Nora just looks between the two of us and shakes her head. "I don't think I like the idea of you two teaming up over there." She punctuates her statement by waving her pen in our general direction.

"She speaks!" Mary exclaims. I watch as Mary beams and wags a finger at Nora. "You're something else, dear."

My snort of laughter earns me a glare and a look for us to get back to work. We still have to go to work today.


	12. Tie That Binds

_I keep the ends out for the tie that binds.  
>Because you're mine, I walk the line<em>

Chapter 12 – Tie That Binds

"Well, detective, you were saying something about us being able to finish off the stack of files on our desks?" Nikki looks over at me, arms folded across her chest, the latex gloves on her hands contrasting with the royal blue blouse she's wearing.

I sigh, running a glove covered hand over my chin and look around. Things were going well; the evening was shaping up to be all right. Nikki and I had gotten back to going through files together and had developed a rhythm. Then dispatch called thirty minutes ago with an address.

So here we are at nearly two in the morning, looking at the body of a dead house wife. The on-call M.E. for the evening, Buddy Talbot, has already moved the body and the scene techs are breaking everything down. The victim is Kathy Thorpe, a run of the mill house wife who, from what it looks like, had the misfortune of being home during an attempted robbery.

The house has been tossed. Kind of.

It was haphazard to say the least and looking over at Nikki, she feels the same.

"Yeah, well, what's that saying about plans and mice?" I ask, looking at the marks on the victim's neck. The bruises are starting to show well and livor mortis has just started to set in; that tells me that she hasn't been dead long. Under three hours. Hopefully, Buddy or Charlie, if he does the post, can tell us a bit more. I'd like to know if they can at least give me the size of the perp.

"It's actually, 'The best laid schemes of mice and men do oft' times go awry.'" Talbot cuts in smiling up from the body.

Nikki clucks her tongue and shrugs. Smiling always seems inappropriate over a dead body so I turn around and motion Nikki to follow me into the dining room where the husband, Brian, sits.

Approaching the man, slumped over the kitchen table, I sit down as Nikki flanks him on the right.

"Mr. Thorpe, I'm Detective Delaney and this is Detective Beaumont," I start off quietly, "We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Mutely, he nods and sits up a bit straighter. I look him over, khaki's with loafers, a blue sweater vest over a white button down shirt. He looks rumpled but in all honesty, no worse for the wear.

"What time did you come home?" Nikki asks gently.

He swallows and tries to speak, but ends up coughing on his words. I nudge the glass of water by his hand and he takes a sip. Clearing his throat, he tries again, "Uh, hmm, twelve, twelve thirty. I, uh, I was at my buddy's house for poker night. Some buddies of mine get together twice a month or so."

"And was anything off when you came in?" I ask.

His eyes grow large and he snaps, "My wife's dead, what the hell kind of question is that!"

"Mr. Thorpe," I say evenly, "not like that, was there anything that you initially noticed? Was anything out of place, did you notice anything as soon as you stepped into the house?"

His mouth snaps shut and I look to Nikki. She quirks her eyebrow as he answers, "No, I mean the T.V. was on which was weird. Kathy never leaves the T.V. on. She's usually in bed by eleven. So I thought she was awake. Then, I…," He trails off and looks towards the living room where several techs pass by.

"So you came and…" Nikki urges him to walk us through what he did when he came home.

His head swivels in her direction when he says, "I came in, noticed the T.V. and went to the living room to see why Kathy was awake. I saw her; she was just lying there, staring up at the ceiling." He reaches for the glass of water and takes a sip. Nikki and I give him time and before long he starts up again, "So I started asking her why she was up, but then I noticed…she…she wasn't moving, or breathing and that's when I saw her neck."

I nod and Nikki asks, "So then you called nine-one-one?"

He nods and I remove my notepad and pen from my hip pocket and slide it to him. "Mr. Thorpe, if you can give us the name and phone number of the friend you were with tonight, it would be appreciated also, leave us your cell number so we can touch base with you tomorrow."

He says nothing as he takes the pen and pad and scribbles the requested information down.

Nikki nods and I pocket the pad and paper while she says, "They'll be done here shortly. Would you like us to call someone and have them come get you?"

He shakes his head. "I, uh, I think I'll go stay at a motel."

"Would you like one of the officers to drive you?" Nikki asks.

Again, he shakes his head. "No, I…I'd like to drive myself."

"Okay, then tomorrow, we'll call you get some more information and I'm also going to need you to come back here and see if anything is missing, jewelry, electronics, loose cash and valuables that may have been taken," Nikki explains as we stand.

The techs are nearly done. Since the place has been tossed there's not a whole lot we can do. We need to find out if anything important is missing, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

"Here's my card and Detective Beaumont's. If you think of anything, please call," I offer him and set two business cards down on the kitchen table.

"We're sorry for you loss, Mr. Thorpe," Nikki says and I lead us out the front door and down the steps.

We come to rest next to June Lee and lean against her bed. Nikki's arms fold across her chest as my thumbs hook into my belt loops. We stand there watching the scene techs move around, until finally, Talbot and two E.M.T.s file out with a stretcher and a body bag.

"Thoughts?" Nikki asks, gently shoulder checking me.

I shrug. "It looks like a robbery gone wrong, but I dunno…"

"Seems off doesn't it?" she mirrors my thoughts in the question.

I nod and she sighs pushing off against June. "Well, we can't do much until the morning. We can come back around in a few hours and start questioning the neighbors."

"Yeah," I say moving around to the driver's side. "I also wanna check out Thorpe's alibi. Then we can see if there is anything missing. The perp didn't look like they were searching for much."

We slide into the car and I crank the engine while Nikki turns the heater on. "Noticed that too?"

"When we did the walk through, it just wasn't like any of the other robbery's I've worked," I offer as I pull away from the curb and head back to the station.

Nikki's hand finds mine in the center of the seat, lacing our fingers together and she groans, "It's gonna be a long day."

* * *

><p>The squad room's pretty sedate this morning. The early morning team has been here for a while and the mid-shift team, just started. Nora and I pulled preliminary data on the victim and her husband while we waited for the A.D.A. to drop off the financials that we had to secure a warrant for.<p>

The big shock to both our systems came when Mr. Thorpe had his lawyer call us with some information along with a list of things in the house. Mr. Thorpe stated that he didn't want to go back to the house so he sent us a list. Nora and I went back and did a search, nothing really came up missing. We have a box of items that piqued our curiosity and will go through them a little bit at a time.

So far, the Thorpe's were in good financial shape, the marriage, on paper at least seems healthy.

"You want to start on that list?" Nora asks standing from her desk.

I follow suit. May as well. We need to start somewhere and looking for stolen goods seems like the best place to begin ruling out that this was actually a robbery gone wrong.

I follow my partner towards one of the interview rooms where a uniform was kind enough put the things that were brought back from the scene. Nora waits for me at the door, holding it open until I step inside. She shuts it and flips the lock.

I quirk an eyebrow at her in question and she shrugs. "Didn't really want an interruption."

"Uh, huh," I say, not really believing her words as she steps into my personal space and her left hand reaches out, grips my hip and pulls me to her. She angles up to reach my lips and plants a soft, but smoldering kiss on my closed lips.

I eagerly lean into her and the embrace. While this isn't common for Nora, there have been one or three times where her hormones have gotten the better of her. It appears that this is one of those times as she backs me up against the steel table that sits in the center of the room.

Gently, she pushes me back so that I'm resting on the top of it so that she can move between my open legs. Deciding to go for it, I open my mouth and deepen the kiss. Her tongue eagerly greets mine and the haze that usually descends when I kiss Nora does not disappoint this time.

I lose my sense of surroundings and allow her to consume me. It's only for lack of breath that we break apart, letting our foreheads rest together as we catch our breath. I'm the first to speak as I moan, "And what brought that on?"

She chuckles a little before answering, "Uh, really just needed it. You've been looking way too sexy sitting across from me."

Sighing, I pull back and run a hand through my hair. "As much as I want this to continue, we have a homicide wanting to be solved sugga."

She nods and pulls away. For a brief moment I curse my big mouth, but only for a moment before I refocus on the case.

She moves to grab the first box as I grab the itemized list from the lawyer. Quickly we go through it, guessing at a few of the items listed. It takes us about a half hour to go through the list and both of us look at each other…

There's nothing missing. Not from the house and not from the boxes that were brought back from the scene. Nora doesn't look pleased by this, but I'm not shocked. We both agreed that the scene felt off.

Her hands go to her waist, her hip juts out to the left and her gun pushes forward on belt. The tight jeans she's wearing and tight hunter green t-shirt look really good on her and the look she's got on her face well…it's distracting. It's her concentration face and it's sexy.

I need to pull my mind out of the gutter. I need to focus.

Deciding that looking at anything but my partner is a good idea right now, I scan the list of items for what seems like the millionth time. All of it's too neat in a way that makes me a little nervous. Last night Thorpe was obviously shaken, in shock at finding his wife's strangled corpse, but today when we briefly spoke on the phone, it was all business. He was professional and curt.

Not something that a grieving husband should be. At least not one that I've ever seen. "We really need to look at the husband," I say.

"What?" Nora comes up behind me and looks over my shoulder. "Why?"

I look back her and say, "Because you didn't talk with him today. Something's not right with him."

"Nikki, he just lost his wife. He walked in to find her murdered corpse and it's barely been ten hours. Who would be 'right'?" She turns me to face her and I give her my best hear me out look.

"We both know it's Homicide One-Oh-One to look at the person closest to the victim. That's the mister," I try to reason.

"I'm not sure. What we do know is that nothing's missing and that leaves us with a couple of questions." She begins a walk around the small seven-foot by seven-foot room.

"You break into a home to rob the place, kill the home owner, toss it, but take nothing of value. Those watches are five grand a piece easy Nora. The intent of the break in, which is debatable given no signs of forced entry, is to take items of value. There's nothing missing," I press.

Her lips purse before she finishes my thought, "Which leads us to reason that the actual intent was to kill the person home or kill the mister, but he wasn't home. "

"So the wife is killed instead?" I go back to resting against the table. "We need to talk to Thorpe again, check his alibi and start knocking on doors."

Nora nods and I can tell she doesn't like the turn the case has taken. Finally, she comes to rest in front of me. I push back some of her hair and smile. "Where you wanna start?"

"Let's check Thorpe's alibi and then go from there." Her tongue darts out, moistening her lips.

"Lead the way sugga," I purr, giving her a light shove for good measure. She leads the way out of the room and I don't mind the view at all.

I rub my eyes as I follow Nikki back into the station. They burn and I feel more than a little bit sluggish. Coffee will be needed shortly, along with some type of food. I don't care what at this point, but the last thing I had to eat was with Dan and Nikki yesterday afternoon and well…

Yesterday was crazy enough before work. First the skanky realtor, then the fight, then Dan with his wanting to get to know me, which I'll come back to, then sex and then Nikki and I putting a bid on a place.

Where to even begin to sort through that mess is beyond me. I mean part of me is glad that Dan's being cool. I was more than worried, but he's making an effort when I've given him every reason not to. He's definitely earning a new level of respect from me, that much is clear.

And the condo or apartment or whatever, what was I thinking, agreeing to Nikki's insanity? She spins around to me, walking backwards and says, "I'm going to go for coffee, meet you at our desks." She smiles at me then. A bright smile that should be forced given the time that we've been awake, but it's not. It's genuine and heartfelt.

Right, that's why I caved.

I nod and start up the steps. She goes in the opposite direction and back outside. I shake my head and trot the rest of the way up the stairs, thinking over the case. Thorpe's alibi checks and that doesn't leave us much. If the dead wife was the intended target, then it wasn't her husband that strangled her. If she wasn't, Thorpe is still in danger. Neither option is entirely appealing right now. This was supposed to be a run of the mill, home invasion gone wrong case.

Oh, how naïve was I?

I hit my desk and slump into my seat. Dan's had his door closed since this morning that could mean trouble in paradise or he may just not want to be bothered. WWWWe've already updated him on the case on our way back. I need to call Thorpe and have him come down here to talk. Picking up my phone, I place the call. It rings and rings and rings. Finally the voicemail picks up and I say, "Mr. Thorpe, this is Detective Delaney. I need you to call me. We'd like to go over a few things with you and would appreciate you coming down to the station. We'll be expecting you tomorrow around nine a.m." I disconnect after that. I've learned that sometimes it's better to set the expectation. We'll see if he shows.

Nikki comes breezing in then with two cardboard cups from the café down street in hand. She sets one on my desk and I moan at the aroma. "I owe you," I say, grinning up at her.

"I know," she purrs winking at me.

I take a much needed sip and stop the second moan. I really really love her right now. The vibrating at my hip stops that train of thought though. I pull the phone from my hip and answer, "Delaney."

"Hello," the woman's voice asks on the other end, "May I please speak with Nora or Nikki?"

Rolling my eyes, I say, "This is Nora." Do people not listen when you answer the phone?

"Oh, hello dear, this is Mary. I need to talk to you or Nikki about some paperwork. There's been a small snafu concerning the apartment that I wanted to discuss."

"Oh, uh, of course. Hold on for me." I rest the phone against my shoulder and whisper over at my partner, "Mary's on the phone. Says there's a problem. You want to…"

Nikki nods and reaches for my cell that I was stretching out for her to take. Bringing it to her ear, she smiles as she says, "This is Nikki."

I motion her off the floor and she disappears as she rounds the corner.

It's then that I pick up on two other detective's, Georgia and her partner, Jesse, conversation. "That doesn't make any sense. Who kills the robbee, but doesn't take anything?" Georgia snips from her desk.

My eyebrow rises of its own and I stand, wandering over to rest a hip against her desk.

"Nora, good to see you," Jesse says and I give a wave.

"What have you guys landed?" I ask.

"A B and E gone wrong," Jesse answers.

Georgia shakes her head and says, "That's a load of bull."

"Partner, just because nothing was taken doesn't mean that wasn't what was supposed to happen," Jesse chides and Georgia rolls her eyes.

"Lay it out for us then," Georgia retorts.

"Georgia and me get called to a scene this afternoon, simple B & E gone wrong. The guy was shot, point blank," Jesse jams his index finger right between his eyes to punctuate the placement of the bullet, "The place was kind of tossed and the wife came home from the gym to find the husband dead." He folds his arms across his chest and leans back in his chair. "See my thoughts are this, it's mid-morning on a work day, the perp start tossing the place, but the husband interrupts and the perp panics, shoots the hubby and dashes out."

I bite my lip and nod. His thoughts about his case very similar to mine. It's a logical conclusion and one that I've been trying to argue with Nikki all day.

"I still say that if I'm going to take the time to break into a place and kill someone I want to make sure I can fence something for my troubles," Georgia says matter of factly.

Nikki steps back into the bull pen and catches my eye. I nod and hold up a finger. "Partner's back, need to go, but here's some food for thought. Nikki and I caught a case very similar, but the vic was strangled and it was the reverse, wife was killed, husband found the body. Keep us in the loop and when we get back we can compare notes."

Georgia nods at this and Jesse says, "Sure, but I doubt it'll do any good."

"Humor me," I say over my shoulder.

* * *

><p>Shutting the car door, I slump back into my seat. Well this is turning out to be a big waste of time. Not only did the neighbors that we talked to see absolutely nothing, they all seem to hold the Thorpe's in high regard.<p>

Nice couple, one neighbor said, very friendly.

Another said that they were just the sweetest people you'd ever wanna meet.

And the last one said that they were so loving.

I roll my eyes. No one is that nice. I'm sorry, but it's just the truth.

But maybe Nora's right. Maybe this is going to turn into a sting of botched B and E's. With the other case Georgia and Jesse caught, it may be a theme. Weirder things have happened. I purse my lips and Nora smirks as she shuts the door on the driver's side.

"Well everyone was really nice," she says, "but damn unhelpful."

I screw my mouth to the side and decide to follow up on Nora's thoughts. I hit two on my speed dial and bring the phone to my ear, Darius picks up on the third ring, "Hey _kouz'._"

"Hey you, how's the day going?" I ask.

"Alright. A little slow. What have you got burnin'?" he asks as I strain to hear where he is at.

"Have a case, a couple of B & E's that have gone wrong. You feel like keeping an ear out?" I ask, looking at Nora.

She smirks and I stick my tongue out at her.

"Will do. I'll hit you back if I hear anything. I need to go, but tell Nor, I said what's up. Love ya," he says before disconnecting.

I shake my head and slip my phone back in my pocket. The dull ache that started twelve hours ago has become a pounding headache and I can't decide if I want food or sleep more.

"Darius says hello," I tell my partner.

Nora nods as I feel my pocket start to vibrate and ring. I sigh and grab it. "Beaumont," I answer.

"Nikki, dear," my father's voice is entirely too cheerful.

"Hi daddy," I greet and let my head fall back against the seat. Closing my eyes, I ask, "How are you?"

"Alright, just returning the message my assistant left me," he says. "Something about you needing a favor."

I feel Nora put June in to drive and pull away from the curb.

"Yeah," I say, not bothering to open my eyes as she ferries me off to where we're headed next. "Uh, Nora and I found this place that's just perfect for us, but it's a co-op and for purchase not for rent."

"So you two are buying a place together?" he asks, sounding not as pleased as I would like him to.

"Yes, I spoke with the realtor earlier this afternoon and another couple put a bid on it, but that's actually been cleared up. What I need is some help on the short sale. The building managers want to finish this up in short order and we're more than willing to oblige. I just need to get a check cut, but don't really have the time."

"Uh-huh, I see," he says, using a tone that I've come to loathe. It's the one where he tells me without telling me he's less than impressed with my decision making ability.

"There's still a lot that needs doing, but making sure they had the down payment before there are any more offers would help. Also," and I know I'm pressing my luck, but ask anyhow, "when things firm up, do you know how we can pass the paperwork through the system quicker?"

"Nicolette," he starts and I clench my jaw, "While I think it's a wonderful thing that you are wanting to invest in real estate, I don't think this is such a great idea."

"Daddy," I start.

"No, now listen here young lady, it wasn't more than three weeks ago, you were staying home, balling your eyes out over the woman that you are now going to purchase a home with. Moreover, what do you know of the building? Neighborhood? Condition and specifications on the unit you two are purchasing? Setting aside my hesitancy to help you further a relationship that doesn't seem stable, let alone, when I've yet to actually sit down and have a proper conversation with your partner, seems more than rash. It seems downright foolish."

"You done?" I ask. When I get no reply, I continue arguing, "I appreciate the concern, but this isn't open for your supposed rational diatribe. Nora and I want this which means that it's happening. I'm asking you for assistance because we've been working a case for the past twenty-four hours and I want to get the wheels turning. For this," I say, and sigh, "I'm asking you to go to the bank, since you are the only one that has access to my funds, besides myself and a deceased partner, to obtain the cashier's check."

"So what you're telling me is to either get on board or…" he trails off in that way that lets me know he's being too much of a gentleman to finish off the thought.

"In a nicer more respectful fashion, yes," I answer.

He gives me a long suffering sigh. "Okay, but there are conditions for my involvement."

"And they would be?" I ask a little more terse than intended.

"If you want to rush into this, that's fine. It's your money, Nikki and it is very clear that you have made up your mind which tells me God himself would have a rough time of it convincing you otherwise. But, after I do your bidding I want you and that partner of yours to come around so that I may be properly introduced," he bargains.

I look at Nora, she's worrying her lower lip and looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she drives. I actually think that it's a wonderful idea. I just have to make sure that when I tell Nora she will as well.

"Fine," I relent.

"Splendid. I'll call you later so we can set up the date and time, now please give me the amount and whatever else I'm supposed to do," he sounds marginally better and I feel a little bit relieved.

I rattle off instructions and he takes notes. Finally, I'm able to get off the phone and instead of just locking it, I turn the blasted thing off and look up as the car comes to a stop.

We're outside Nora's apartment and I raise an eyebrow.

She smiles at me before killing the engine and hopping out of the car. I watch slightly amused as she runs around to my side and opens the door for me. Extending her hand, I take it as she helps me out.

"Dan said to knock off and get some sleep," she explains at my look.

Nodding, we lock up and support each other on our walk to her apartment. We stumble inside and head straight for the bed. I lay down and close my eyes, the feeling of Nora removing my shoes and kissing me the last memories I have of the day.


	13. As Sure As Night

_As sure as night is dark and day is light  
>I keep you on my mind both day and night<br>_

Ch. 13 – As Sure As Night

I look around the café while trying to smooth down the fly-a-ways that escaped from my ponytail. It's not horribly busy, but a steady stream of people coming and leaving, not an unusual sight considering it's a block and a half up from the station. I'm waiting on the order I placed for sandwiches and drinks a few minutes ago. Nikki's back at the station following up on a lead in the break-in/homicide. Nothing's been really helpful. Charlie came back with a little bit about the death. There was some significant bruising around the victim's neck.

That helps.

If we can find the person that did it, we can match the patterns up. Right now, the husband is stonewalling us. The walkthroughs on both scenes confirmed that they were related. Two murders, two attempted burglaries and they've both gone wrong, which points to Nikki being on the right track, the burglaries weren't the intent of the break-ins.

I sigh and screw my mouth to the side. It just defies logic and granted, criminals by and large aren't smart, but…maybe I just expect a bit more from someone if they're going to go and pop two people. A little more planning at least?

"Nora," the guy behind the counter slides a full drink holder and a bag over my way and grins.

"Thanks Jason," I say gathering the items.

"You need help?" He looks me over as I balance the tray in one hand and hold the bag of food in the other.

"Nah. I'm good as long as no one knocks me over." I give a small grin and head towards the door. This isn't the first time I've balanced four cups of coffee and some food back to the station. I have a hard time believing it will be the last.

Stepping outside the sun's high overhead, shinning down on the city. For a fall day it's beautiful and I'm glad September's gloomy days are behind us. Hopefully this year October won't see that much rain and we can head into winter a little drier than usual. I start down the sidewalk with a tiny spring in my step. I'm well rested and sure, the case isn't going anywhere right now, but we're not at dead ends all around. Nikki and I just need to tweak our perception. See if we can get something to shake loose.

Things usually do if you start shaking hard enough.

"Nora!"

I stop mid stride and look around for the source of the voice. I swivel left and see Bobby waving his arms at me from across the street.

Oh boy.

I look heavenward and ask for just a tiny bit of patience with my brother. I love him, God knows I do, but, I don't think I can deal with him right now.

See, this is what I get for being a little upbeat.

I look back at him as he jogs across the street. His hands are outstretched and he takes the tray from my hands before saying another word. I give him a once over, the look on my face I feel may be similar to what mama gives us when she's trying to figure out what we're doing that we shouldn't be. I know this by the way he withers under my look.

"Hi," he says softly. "Looked like you needed a hand."

"I had it," I say. We're standing in the middle of the side walk while people are giving us looks as they move around. I take my now free hand and tug on his uniform sleeve. "Come on." I move us off to the side to let the passerby's through.

"Oh, yeah, good idea." His eyes go back to studying the tops of the drinks lids.

I huff. Is this really why he stopped me. To not talk? To not explain why he hasn't returned any of my phone calls?

"Bobby, was there something you needed?" I figure right now blunt is better. Blunt will get us to the point and I can decide what I want to do.

I know I never gave him much warning about me. I sure as hell didn't expect him to find out about me while I was in the middle of having sex. I really wish that hadn't happened.

There's just nothing I can do about it. He hasn't given me a chance to explain and I'm not entirely sure I need to. Not now. Not when he's been running away from me for the past few weeks. What I'd really like to do is shove my foot up his ass…

Well, maybe that's the problem.

Maybe his head's so far up his rear that he doesn't see what's happening.

I chew my lower lip and he continues to look contrite.

This just sucks. I get it. On so many levels. We're Catholic. I can't count the number of times my father used the term 'faggot' and queer as slang when referring to some guy he had a run in with or some perp he chased down. There were nights when we'd be upstairs and he'd carry on with a few friends from the department. They'd joke and laugh flinging certain words around kids shouldn't hear.

I'd be more than happy to say that my father saw everyone as equal. I can't. I can say he was my father. I loved him regardless of his faults. He loved me despite the one's he saw. I don't know if he was proud of who I had become. Mom doesn't really talk about him much. Not enough, I think.

So here we are. Me kind of understanding Bobby's shock. We're a normal, screwed up family. We're that Tolstoy quote, just like everyone else. We all have our issues, some far worse than others, or different since you can't place individual pain above someone else's. But I would like my brother back. I'd like for him to talk to me. I want to be able to call him up and chat or meet up every now and again on Sunday's to watch a game. I talk to the two other hooligans I call brothers on the important dates, but their lives are just as busy as mine. Plus, I've always been closer to Bobby, in age and personality.

Patrick and Terry are older than me by four years. Patrick's the oldest at thirty-nine, Terry's thirty-eight. In a few short months, I'll be thirty-two and Bobby'll be twenty-seven. Neither of my parent's will admit to me and Bobby being the "oops" kids. We take pleasure in knowing it though.

My brother huffs, he shuffles his feet and goddamn him I'm knocked back nearly twenty years when he was six years old and launched a rock at our tree house. It missed. It broke a kitchen window. He stood in front of me before my dad came out screaming blue bloody murder. I took the fall for it 'cause of that look.

Damn him.

He huffs again and stammers, "I don't get it. Do you hate guys? Have you always been…? What about Tommy? Dan? Why didn't you ever say anything? Do you hate men now?" The verbal diarrhea takes a minute to sink in.

I glare as everything finally registers. A hand goes to my hip and the bag of food drops to the ground. I poke him in the chest causing him to rock back with each jab of my finger. "Look here Robert Eugene; get those stupid, narrow minded, bullshit ideas out of your head." I look around and drop my voice, "Guys are fine. I don't hate men. Yes, Tommy and me. No to Dan and me. I've known for a while. A long while."

His shoulders droop further.

Christ, it's like I kicked our dog, Bubby. The mutt used to get the poutiest look when he was in trouble. I soften up a little and say, "Bobby, I don't know what I need from you right now, and I don't know what you want from me right now."

"Nora, I…want to understand. Ya know? I've had…you're my sister, I just never thought you'd…" His face clouds over in confusion and something else.

I deflate. Snatching the bag off the sidewalk, I take the drinks from his hands and head back towards the station leaving him in his…whatever the hell he's in.

* * *

><p>Dan leans against my desk talking quietly. I'm waiting for Nora to get back with lunch while Georgia and Jesse speak with their widow. Meredith Whitman is petite and blonde with a little too much Botox and time in the gym. It's a personal judgment on my behalf. I think aging gracefully is a more dignified approach than the medical miracles currently being pushed. A great hairdresser and a phenomenal moisturizer generally takes care of the gray hair and fine lines.<p>

I blink and look up at Dan. Now what was he talking about?

Oh. Right.

"I'm really sorry about our night out," I say quietly. We don't particularly need people hearing this. Especially cops. They chatter and gossip and whisper more than the women in the D.A.R. Since we were supposed to go out for drinks last night, Nora and I feel a little bad.

"It's all right," he waves me off, "you two needed sleep more. Just don't think you two are getting out of it."

"Wouldn't dream of it Lieutenant." I wink at him and ask, "Now out of curiosity, how many of your other detectives get the attention that you lavish upon little ole me and my gorgeous partner?"

His cheeks actually tint under the soft brown of his skin at my gentle teasing. His eyes drop to the beige linoleum under our feet and answers, "None thus far. None of them were my partner though."

I pat his knee. I do understand. Ron and I talk at least once or twice a month since we reconnected on that undercover job. If you connect with your partner, if you work well with them, that bond is hard to break. Sometimes, I'm not sure, if I were Dan, that I would be capable to just cut that off.

"What…?"

I look at what he's staring at on top of my desk. The signed paperwork for the condo is sitting on a few reports.

"You buyin' a place?" he asks, tapping the forms.

My fingers drum across the top of my desk before I answer, "We are, yes."

His head whips to me.

I smirk. "We put in the bid and the deposit. We just need to finalize a few things. With any luck and a little push, we can have everything squared away before the end of the month."

"Wow," he says, "That's...soon"

I shake my head. "Not really, the purchase of the property yes, but we couldn't pass this place up. Once we get settled, you'll have to come over."

"You two really are serious," he whispers. The look in his eyes is a mix of crestfallen and shocked.

"Did you think we'd risk what we're risking otherwise?" I ask, curious of his answer. He couldn't possibly know Nora as well as he thinks if he thought she'd risk her entire career for a fling.

Shaking his head, he gives me a suitable answer, "No, no I guess not. Just, it seems sudden."

"Not really," I say. I'm about to qualify my opinion on it not being soon enough, but I understand. To him it is sudden. He doesn't know about the months leading up to the inevitable relationship. I often wonder why we wasted the first months of us knowing each other.

Seems a waste to have gone that long without touching Nora, but that's just it. He didn't know and really doesn't understand. Nor does he understand the time after our first night together. You can make a case that we should have waited, that we should have taken things a little slower.

It's really not in my nature and while Nora can be the more pragmatic of the two of us, when she settles on something, I have yet to see anything less than an act of God prevent her from getting what it is that she wants and by an act of God, I am referring to an earth-shattering roll in the hay.

And I'm sitting here smirking up at my boss trying to get him to understand all of this when I spot Nora out of the corner of my eye. A quick glance in her direction tells me everything I need to know. To someone that didn't know her, nothing would seem out of place.

But, I do.

Something's wrong.

A quick glance at Dan and he can sense it too.

She smiles at us as we abandon our conversation to track her progress across the bull pen. The smile is an attempt that would be appreciated under most circumstances, but she only went to get lunch. Her shoulders are a little too squared and her back a little too straight, for everything to be okay. What in the hell could have happened in a three block walk?

"I'll leave you ladies to it," Dan excuses himself, sliding from his seat on top of my desk and heads towards his office.

I watch Nora watch his retreating form as she slides my salad and coffee to me.

"Thanks," I offer, earning her attention. Satisfied, she's focused on the right set of brown eyes or in Dan's case, brown backside, I raise an eyebrow in question.

She responds with a single word, "Bobby."

I huff. I would love to be able to ask about the encounter, but this is neither the time nor the place. I purse my lips briefly and then say, "Here, give me." I motion to the food for Georgia and Jesse. "Give me so you can eat and get settled.

She hands the two drinks and sandwiches over gratefully. I pick them up and saunter over, interrupting their conversation with Mrs. Whitman, "Excuse me. Lunch you two."

"Thanks, Nik," Jesse says taking the items from my hands.

Georgia picks up, "Mrs. Whitman, this Detective Beaumont."

I hold out my right hand. Her left meets it and I notice the glint on her finger first. Her wedding set comes with a princess cut diamond on her engagement ring. The diamond is easily two and a half carats.

"Meredith," she says. Her grip is firm as my eyes trail up and look up into her eyes for the first time. They're grey and they blink at me. Chills dance up my spine and I know this isn't the first time that I've seen these same eyes look at me in the same way.

My mind searches and a dusty memory from several months back at a charity function with a friend of mine where we had a little too much to drink flashes through. I was as graceful as possible in four-inch heels and three sheets to the wind, but I stumbled a little as I tried to find the coatroom. I wanted to get my shawl before Nora got there to pick me up and Michelle, an old college friend and date for the evening, wasn't much of a help. She allowed herself to be absconded by Jeffery Morgan, the resident stud of St. Baptiste Children's Hospital.

Couldn't blame Michelle. Not my type, but cute and from the rumors, he knew what he was doing between the sheets. Michelle had just broken up with her third fiancé so blowing off a little steam seemed acceptable. So alone, I went in search of the coatroom. Instead of the coatroom, I found a closet that held two semi-naked, grunting partners doing things that seemed rather unsanitary in a closet.

It was her grey eyes that blinked up at me over the rather large stack of packaged toilet paper. I dislike the fact that, on occasion, my life seems more like a horribly written soap opera. I'm sure things like that don't happen to normal people. When I giggled about it to Nora, she just smirked and said that's what I get for socializing with people that have more money than sense.

I wish I had an argument for her there.

The memory is resurrected as I keep a grip on Mrs. Whitman's hand and look back down at the diamond.

I recover quickly enough and chirp, "Lovely, ring."

Well shit.

"And if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my desk." I drop her hand and head back towards Nora trying not to give anything away. "Nora, I need to speak with you for a brief moment," I drop my voice and add, "now."

She follows me out to the hallway and leans against the wall.

"We have a problem," I dive right in, "Do you remember when you came to pick me up at that charity event for St. Baptiste and I told you about the couple I walked in on." I don't wait for a response and carry on, "Well, you see I had this niggling little thing in the back of my mind when we initially met our widower, but there was a lot wrong with that crime scene so I considered it to be nothing more than cynicism. But," I hold up my finger as her mouth opens up, "here's the thing. I was just formally introduced to Mrs. Whitman and when I saw her, it all came back from the recesses of my addled alcohol induced memories of that night." I lean forward and whisper, "I still think you owe me for that night by the way."

Her mouth drops open as she tints pink.

"It's not my fault you indulged my wandering hands and then promptly fell asleep afterwards. I was left high and damp, as it were." I bite back the bark of laughter at her fully ruddy cheeks now. "But this is not the point of my story; the point is that I've seen Mrs. Whitman before. It was our newly widowed socialite that was bent over that toilet paper stack."

Her mouth drops a little more and I finish up, "It was also not the first time I'd seen our widower, Brian was the man behind her." Realization dawns over her and I say, "I'm also pretty sure I can get Charlie to confirm the squarish bruising along our victim's neck was made by that rock on Georgia and Jesse's widow's finger."

* * *

><p>Three mugs rise and clink together and Dan says, "To Nikki and her philanthropic drunken nights!"<p>

I can't seem to make the smirk disappear from my mouth as I chastise, "Awe, come on partner, leave the blue blood be." Dan looks between Nikki and me and grins.

Setting his now half-empty pint of beer down, he says, "I mean it. Hell, who concocts a scheme like that?"

I tap the tabletop and pick up his train of thought, "Who doesn't want to have their mistress knock off their wife while you kill their husband?" I turn my attention to Nikki on my left, who is looking between Dan and me less than amused at the banter.

I squint at her and she finally cracks a grin. I'm four shots and three pints into our outing with Dan. After confronting Meredith Whitman on the ring and the affair, she broke down and told us pretty much everything we could want to know. After polishing off a bit of paperwork and an arrest on Brian Talbot, Dan said he was buying and we were all going out. Georgia and Jesse left the bar we were at around ten.

In an uncharacteristic mood, I decided to see if Dan really was going to be as cool about me and Nikki as he has been to date. I brought him to Happy Phantoms. The drinks up until our entrance here, two shots and one beer with our co-workers, gave me a slight buzz. But then, Cassie came by. She just swung by the table, dropped off two rounds of shots and skittered away before I had a chance to say hello.

She did shoot me a wink. With Casey that can be interpreted in so many ways. She also knows I'm a sucker for good tequila.

So, here I am becoming drunker by the minute with my lovely, doe-eyed, brunette taking it in her stride. I know it's harder for her with him here. Dan can come off strong.

I have no excuse for that only because he is. He's that type of guy and he can be a jerk, but if you give him a shot, he's also all right. If I can make him a friend now, like he wanted to be when we were just partners. I don't want to miss the opportunity.

"Well," my baby drawls, "I do think making sure doing your civic duty pays off."

Dan laughs and I grin at her. She really is something else.

"So Nora, you seem comfortable, what is this place exactly?" Dan asks me.

"A bar," I shrug.

"Hmm, nice place." He looks around and I can tell he appreciates the lay out. Phantoms is set up so that you can have a nice conversation and still enjoy your surroundings. Since Ann introduced me to this place nearly ten years ago, it's been a staple. I'm glad I can finally introduce it to Dan.

"This where you usually go?" He looks between Nikki and me.

"Nora actually brought me here. It's a nice place, little trouble and good owners. Where do you go on your down time?" Nikki fills in for me.

"This little bar over by my house. Can walk to it and back from it." He winks at Nikki. "Nora's been there a few times."

Nikki's head swivels to me and her eyebrow arcs elegantly. I smile. She still looks like she wants an explanation. I lean over, bring my right hand to the side of her neck and pull her in close. "You look a little jealous," I tease gently, letting my lips brush over the shell of her ear. "He was my partner. We had some drinks together," I remind her.

She tilts her head and nuzzles against my lips and nose. Dan needs to leave soon. Or no, we need to leave soon. Tequila does odd things to me.

"If you two don't stop, I may not be able to keep these comments to myself," I hear Dan say.

Unable to resist, my right rand comes up to caress her cheek as I turn my hand over and use the back of my fingers. Her eyes warm instantly when I pull back and look at her. She takes it the rest of the way causing our lips to connect.

I keep it as chaste as possible, only pulling back when I can't stand not taking it further. I hum my approval as her tongue takes one last swipe over my lower lip.

"Cough, cough," my old partner chokes out. He can't even let me revel in the hotness of my girlfriend.

"Jerk," I sneer and toss a napkin at him.

He holds his hands up in surrender and winks at me. Picking up his drink, he tips it towards me and says before taking a sip, "To you, partner, I admire your taste in women."

I flip him off and he chuckles around the lip of his glass.

"Nora, are you saying that you disagree?" Nikki looks at me.

I shake my head vehemently. I know when an answers going to get me in trouble…kind of.

Sometimes, I get in to trouble and don't even know it. But she loves me. So after I deny, I grin. She likes it when I smile.

"Sugga," Nikki says and nudges the beer towards me, "You're cruisin' right now. Why don't you finish your drink?"

I pick up the nudged glass and see that it's almost empty. Well, that's no fun. I feel my mouth turn down. That's no fun at all.

"So, you two are getting a place." I look up from the bottom of my now empty glass to Dan.

Another grin comes over me. "Yeah," the sound of my voice a little slower and sillier than I'd like. "You should see the place. Harney, it's huge and ours." Wait…I look at Nikki. I signed the papers, she said her dad picked up the money from her bank; Nikki met Mary at the station while I was meeting with the A.D.A. to secure the warrants. "It is ours, right?" I need clarification.

"It is or will be soon." She's wearing a smile, not nearly as wide as mine, but she's not drinking a whole lot tonight.

With my assumption confirmed, I look back at Dan and point to Nikki. "Cute and she handles paperwork. What's not to love?"

His eyebrows rise. "Love?"

I nod while motioning Casey for another round. She sees me and nods holding up her finger to give her a minute. I nod and go back to Dan. "Yep. A lot actually."

"Good. So answer this for me, why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I'm not out. My very close friends know, but that's it. Besides I didn't know how you'd react," I try for honesty.

He points to me and says, "You're an idiot." He smirks. "Now, we just need to make sure that this personal relationship between you two isn't going to interfere with your work or we have to revisit our arrangement."

I snort, "It hasn't for the past year and some months. It won't now."

I take pleasure in Dan's mouth dropping open.

My girl is something else. Not only is she just this side of drunk, she's been goading Dan which is just fun to watch. I have never had the chance to see how they interact with out the pressures of the office hanging over either of their heads and all I can say is that it's damn funny. They don't speak much but they carry on these conversations with looks and body language.

I also saw Nora motion for Casey to bring another round. I resist the shake of my head. I'm going to let her do this, cut lose and get drunk. Tonight, I cut her slack because she needs it. She needs the lubrication to let Dan in. Dan wants in and he seems to be enjoying himself tonight.

He's also okay with us, which is honestly a load off. I was dreading the first show of affection. Nora surprised me two ways, initiating it and not floundering her way through the afterward. She may love me lots, but tonight, I think I'm ass over tea kettle all over again.

I see Casey come towards us. It's been a while since we've been in, maybe it's time I take Dan out for a spin on the dance floor to give the two a chance to catch up. I turn to Nora and motion her out of the booth. Unquestioningly, she complies allowing me out of my corner seat. I pull her to me as I stand up next to her and press our hips together. Automatically, she leans in and captures my lips. Her tongue ghosts over my lips. I part them, allowing myself to get a full taste of the alcohol dusted tongue of my lover. She is something else with a few shots of tequila in her. I won't deny that I absolutely adore it.

But I pull back. I want to dance right now. She should catch up with Casey. She whimpers at the loss of contact and I suppress my own groan. I tap her nose. The action earns me a grin before I spin to Dan and say, "Come on, Lieu. Show me what you got."

His face splits into a delighted smile as he takes my offered hand. I give Casey a wave and wink as we pass on the way to the dance floor. I hear Nora call out, "Keep your hands above the waist Harney. I will shoot you otherwise."

"I don't think I've seen Nora like this before," Dan says as I spin around and walk backwards grabbing his waist.

We find the rhythm to Santana's newest version of The Game of Love. The song's upbeat and the girl singing, Michelle something or other takes over for the job of Tina Turner on this newer version. Not bad and the beat's just right to engage Dan in a friendly dance.

Finally, I answer, "She can cut lose when she needs to."

His hands move to loosely grip my hips. He steers us away from the speakers, off to the side where a few other couples are engaged in conversation while moving to the music. I lock my hands behind his neck and we smile at each other. I think Dan would be able to keep up with me on the dance floor…if I ever gave him half a chance.

"Does she do this often?" he asks.

I shake my head and lean in to be heard, "This is one of the few places where she can. She's comfortable here. Her bringing you here is an act of faith, Harney."

He swivels his hips, dipping his chin in understanding. He licks his lips and looks away from me, back towards our table as he opts for an abrupt topic change, "If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay Beaumont."

I bring my right hand between us and tweak his nose. "You're in love with her," I state. I mean at this juncture in our friendship we may as well clear the air. He knows it. I know it. Nora's clueless, but then again, I don't think she notices half the people that pay attention to her. My partner is a focused individual.

My hand goes back around his neck as he shrugs. "True, but I'm big enough to know when I need to sit on the sidelines. She's your pain in the ass now."

"She's never really talked about your relationship, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing…" I start off.

"Nikki…"

"No, now wait, I'm gonna lay it out here Lieutenant," I use his title hoping he gets this, "I don't think I want to know. It's the past. I appreciate the lengths you're going to for us and that's enough for me to give you my respect. You've earned that; just don't do anything to screw it up."

The right corner of his mouth turns up into what I'm sure has made more than a few women swoon and he says, "Take care of her and we're good." With that his hands drop from my waist and I follow him back to our table where Nora and Casey are carrying on. Casey's brought the good stuff. A two-hundred dollar bottle of tequila sits on our table and Nora is more than slightly flushed.

Sliding in next to Nora, Dan takes a seat next to Casey as I make the introductions, "Dan this is Casey Gerard, bartender and friend, Casey, this is Dan, our boss and Nora's old partner."

Nora leans into me and I wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her in tight. I can smell the tequila as she nuzzles my neck. It's going to be a long night.

"Wait," Dan says holding up his hand. "Nora, this is Casey, the Casey?"

Nora's head comes up from its place on my shoulder and she grins at me a little blurry eyed before turning her attention to Dan to nod her head.

At her answer, he runs his hand over the top of his head and laughs. A full on belly laugh that causes him to double over the top of the table. I look at Casey expecting an answer. She shrugs and says, "No clue, but how have you been?"

I point to Nora and offer, "Not too bad. Has she been behaving herself?"

"Not really," the bartender admits. "She's itching to leave. You know how she gets."

I run my hand through Nora's hair, scratching her scalp. "I do."

Dan finally has himself under control and he says, "Sorry, I just thought that…Nora mentioned you from time to time. Blew me off on a few after work drink outings to see you."

Casey nods, her light brown locks swishing around her face. "Okay. That's funny because?"

"'Cause I always thought you were a guy."

Her mouth screws to the side and she looks down at her barely covered ample chest. "Clearly not male."

"No," Dan admits, "You certainly are not." He sends her a smile I have only seen directed at Nora, piquing my curiosity.

"It's okay. It is nice to meet you though. Nora's mentioned you a few times. You've interrupted a few things too," she teases.

Dan's face clouds over and he points between Nora and Casey. "Wait you two actually were…"

"She was my booty call," Nora mumbles.

"Hey," Casey's voice is a little indignant a brief moment before she bobs her head, "Yeah, fine, Nora was my booty call. I actually like that much better than being hers. Sounds so cheap and tawdry the other way around."

I roll my eyes. I really think it's time to go before Dan begins asking questions to things I don't want to hear.

Dan holds his hand up and waits for Nora to give him a high five. As their hands connect, he says, "Really, Nora, excellent taste in women. I could have been using you all this time for my wingman. Is there anyone else that I should know about?"

Nora's mouth frowns in thought before she answers, "Well, Ann, but that's ancient, ancient history."

"Ann…? Ann…? F.B.I. Ann?" he asks incredulously. Nora nods as Dan's mouth drops to the floor.

"Well shit," he mumbles.


	14. Turn the Tide

_For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide  
>Because you're mine, I walk the line<br>_

Chapter 14 – Turn the Tide

I'm nervous, I can admit that. I mean it's not like I've ever really had a sit down with any parent to discuss my intentions towards their child. And see, putting it in those terms just makes it sound kind of wrong. Yet, that's what I'm doing. I'm getting ready for our lunch date with Nikki's dad. Our first day off in nearly two weeks and I have to do this. I have laundry to do, packing to start and I need to clean.

Instead I'm standing in front of my closet waiting on Nikki to get here. I'm trying to find something to wear. My first inclination is to just go in jeans and a t-shirt. I huff and ruffle my wet bangs. Ann's not available and Jill is on location for a shoot. There's no one to call. I screw my mouth to the side and think about calling Casey. Then I nix the idea.

I'm not too sure, but I think she and Dan got together and that thought kind of weirds me out. Not because Dan's a guy; Casey has always been very equal opportunity with her bed partners, but it's Dan.

My Dan.

My ex partner Dan.

My boss, Dan.

It's a little weird.

I glance at the alarm clock to my left. Okay, so it's only ten in the morning. We don't have to be there until one-thirty this afternoon. I abandon my idea of getting dressed and go to sit on my bed. My robe bunches around my thighs. I tug it and pull it down trying to get comfortable.

"Nor," Nikki's voice calls from the living room.

"Bedroom," I holler back. Didn't hear her come in, but she has a key, it's good to know she uses it.

She saunters in wearing cream colored slacks a light purple blouse and heels just shy of being too steep for a human to walk in. Smiling at me she comes to stand between my parted legs. "You look like you're getting ready to go to the principal's office. What's up?"

I blink up at her and shrug.

"Sugga?" The fingertips of her right hand ghost over my left cheek to push back some damp strands of hair.

"Couldn't decide on what to wear," I admit.

"Ah," she says and pushes me back on the bed. Straddling my waist, she leans down planting her hands on either side of my head. "You should wear whatever you want. Be comfortable."

My eyebrows rise at this. Is she really telling me to go in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers?

"Baby, he needs to get to know you. You should wear whatever you are going to be comfortable in."

Apparently she is.

Instead of getting up like I thought she would, she lifts herself up and motions me to turn around on to my back.

"Nik?" I ask, but do as she asks.

"Shh, scooch up," she answers.

Again I do as asked and she tugs at my robe, sliding it down my body to rest low around my hips. I hear her suck in a breath and she shift s her weight. I look back to see her fumbling for the lotion on top of the nightstand on her side of the bed. She squeezes a bit into the palm of her left hand and sets the bottle down with her right.

Catching my eye, she rubs her hands together and explains, "You need this. Now shush and lemme get to work." She moves my hair out of the way and begins.

The lotion is cool against my back, but her hands quickly warm it up as they begin to knead my shoulders. Her firm ministrations hurt slightly at first but she quickly has me moaning as she works the lotion into my skin. My eyes flutter shut when she trails a lone fingernail down the center of my back.

Nikki's hands continue kneading and slowly, I loosen up. I'm on the cusp of dozing off when I feel the first brush of her lips against my left shoulder blade. My eyes snap open as her teeth drag across my back to my right shoulder where she places a closed mouth kiss on the apex of my shoulder blade. Her hips press down into me. I raise my backside just enough and she rolls her hips once again as her mouth carves a path up the center of my back to the nape of my neck. Her lips come around to nibble on my ear and stoking the slow burn between my legs.

She's not playing fair.

I try to turn the tables around and flip myself on to my back. I look up into soft, hooded brown eyes and smirk at the small pout. "You're spoiling my fun," she whines.

"Too bad," I state and tug at her top. "You're overdressed." I wiggle my eyebrows causing her to giggle.

I lace my fingers behind my head and watch as she slides off me. The first thing to go is the button down blouse. It slips from her shoulders and she tosses it onto the floor. Next are her heels which she kicks towards the bathroom door; her slacks slip down her hips to pool at her feet. She steps from them and stands before me in a matching flesh colored bra and panties. Her breasts are pushed up and looking entirely too enticing.

I take my left hand and indicate her bra and underwear, "Those need to go too."

Her right eyebrow lifts. I smile and put my hand back under my head. I figure if you're going to get naked you might as well get really naked. I lay there watching her until she rolls her eyes and shimmies out of her underwear too.

My gaze rakes down her torso, over the swell of her hips to her long, lean legs. I love her legs. As I track back up her mostly nude form, the bra falls to the floor and she asks, "Better?"

"Much," I smirk.

She steps up to the bed, her knees hitting the mattress before she tugs at the belt of my robe and pulls it free. The terry cloth falls open and it's her turn to smirk.

Instead of crawling up to me, she tugs at my ankles, causing me to slide to the edge so my legs dangle off. Intrigued, I watch as she drops to her knees and lifts my left leg, kissing a path from my calf to the inside of my thigh.

As surprises go, I haven't had a better one in a while. She moans as her nose ghosts over my mound and moves to the inside of my right thigh. Her touch releases small shivers to the outlaying area of her touch. I close my eyes and mentally track the path of her lips, teeth and tongue. She moves down my right leg in much the same fashion as she moved up my left. As she ascends, I spread my legs a little further apart to give her better access to the problem she's created between my thighs. I can feel the moisture as it pools in me.

"Nik," I whisper, my voice lower than I thought it could go, "Please."

"Shh, sugga, I've got this," she whispers back.

And at the first swipe of her tongue, I readily agree. Yes, she does.

* * *

><p>"I know Ann, okay, okay…" Nora says. The phone is pressed to her ear and I'm driving us to Café Ravi in the Garden district to meet my daddy. Parking's atrocious as I circle the block once more and find a spot. Nora chatters away as I parallel park.<p>

I give Nora a bit of time. Ann's been out of town working and Nora's been goin' crazy not being able to talk to her closest friends. With Ann's birthday passing, my girl's finally gotten the chance to catch up with her three weeks after the fact.

"I'm glad everything's okay…Yeah, when is she due back?" The conversation carries on as I prop my head on my hand as my elbow rests on the windshield to listen. "Soon. Promise. All right." She hands the phone off to me and I take it a little shocked.

"Hello?" I say pressing the phone to my ear.

"Nikki, hey," Ann says. We've talked on the phone before, but this is new. This hesitation from her. Of course we haven't really talked since I walked out of the hospital room either. My reaction then may have something to do with the hesitation now.

It seems like that was forever ago, but in reality it's only been maybe five, six weeks tops. Time passes quickly. I smile and say, "I understand I owe you a happy belated birthday. I hope it was fun."

She laughs and I can hear some of the tension ease from her voice as she answers, "Not really, I spent it working. Jill's out of town until Thursday."

"Well then will you be celebrating when she gets back?" It seems a waste to let a birthday go in such a fashion. Just because I've spent a birthday or two at the station doesn't mean everyone needs to.

"Maybe. We're actually supposed to get ready for Thanksgiving. She likes to have her mom and dad over. Lee too if he can get away from his family. You two make plans?" she asks. A simple question really. Also, no mention of her family. I really have been horrible about this. I don't know that much about either of the two women that Nora feels close to.

"Not yet, but I assume the conversation will happen sooner rather than later," I answer. "What about your family?"

She snorts a harsh sort of laugh into the phone. Uh-oh. "Nor hasn't told you much about me has she?"

"Not really." I look at Nora who is sporting a furrowed brow. "She's not said much."

"It's okay. I don't have any that I like to spend time with. It's Jill, Nora and Lee. They're family."

That makes sense. "I see. Well then, I hope it's nice."

"I'm sure it will be, thanks Nikki," Ann gives me. "Hey, uh, I also wanted to ask, or, talk to you about what happened on that case. I'm sorry it caused so many problems. Nikki, I didn't mean for that to happen."

My respect for Ann Flemming is raised a notch or two and I wave her apology off by saying, "Ann, it's really okay. I think everything worked out for the best."

"So I've heard. You sure you wanna live with her?" the agent teases.

"More than anything," I answer. "You know, it really wasn't you, there was a lot boiling under the surface. We needed to work it out. I may have over reacted a bit too.

Ann laughs and says, "Look, I know how you feel. Jill went through it with Nora and me too. And just 'cause I knew Nora first and we have a history, doesn't mean I'm not your friend either. You wanna vent about the stubborn blonde, I'm here. It's good to call me or Jill even. She really likes you. Hell, I'd be worried if I didn't know better."

I smile at that. Jill is a kindred spirit of sorts. "I will hold you to that, agent."

"Good enough," she says. "Hey, I know it's a bit early, but Jill and I both took some time for the holidays. Why don't you two come up for a week or so if it fits in your schedule?"

That really isn't a bad idea. Maybe if I can convince Darius and Daddy to have Christmas a little early or later, we can do it. I don't know about Nora though. She and Bobby are still on the outs and nothing's improved with her mom. I run a hand through my hair and go for non-committal, "Let me run it by Nora when we have a moment and I'll let you know."

"Good enough. And to make it easier it doesn't even have to be over Christmas. Come after or before or whenever, we just want to see you guys."

"All right, enough, I'll run it by this one and she'll let you know sooner rather than later," I say, smacking Nora's hand away from my side. She's been sitting for more than five minutes and she's nervous enough.

"Okay, then I'm going to go. John just came back with lunch. Bye Nikki."

"Bye Ann, take care of yourself," I say before the line goes dead. Turning to my lover, I hand the phone back to her and smile. She gives me this half grin. "She's invited us for Christmas," I say handing the phone back to Nora.

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I slide across the bench seat to snuggle up against Nora's left side. Her arm wraps around my shoulder and she asks, "Did you want to go?"

I shrug. "It'd be nice to spend Christmas with you this year. Last year was kind of a bust." We had plans to sneak away Christmas Eve and take off for two days. Both of us had the time off, we had made the applicable excuses with the family and I had two nights at the W in the French Quarter booked in one of their best suites.

Then we got hit with a double homicide, a robbery gone wrong about an hour before our shift was supposed to end. Two hours after that shift was supposed to end and we were still at work, another double in another robbery gone wrong. We chased the two people that were guilty across all of New Orleans for the better part of three days.

Christmas was shot to hell and if we could get away this year, I would be very very grateful. "I think it'd be nice. Our plans last year were shot. I could do a spell getting away with you."

I look up at her and she smiles down at me. "Okay. We'll talk to Dan when we get back to work and set everything up. Maybe start looking at airfare after Thanksgiving?"

I nod and wrap my arms around her midsection. Her heart's beating double time. Glancing at the time displayed on the dashboard, I groan. I kind of like being cocooned here in June Lee, but it's almost time to meet Daddy and there really is no sense in delaying the inevitable.

"Come on sugga, let's go," I say sitting up and running a hand through my hair.

I follow Nora out of the passenger side and straighten my clothes. Offering her hand a tight squeeze before I let go and we trot across the street to the café. This should be interesting.

* * *

><p>As Nikki let's go of my hand, the bats, not the butterflies, in my stomach start-up double time. My palms start to get a little clammy and as she holds the door to Café Ravi open for me, I wipe them on my jeans. She's done a heck of a job taking my mind off of today's lunch, but… I can't get out of this, unless I can get a hold of Dan to call us in.<p>

I discard that thought just as soon as it comes to me. I can't do that. I need to do this for Nikki. If I keep repeating that to myself, that this is for Nikki, then I'll be okay. She's close to her father. He needs to at least meet me.

"Welcome to Café Ravi ," a chipper hostess greets us.

I smile while Nikki talks, "Hi, I'm Nikki Beaumont. Has my father shown up?"

"Ah, yes, Ms. Beaumont. Right this way, we've got your table all set up and your father's been expecting you," her nametag reads, Cindy. We follow her off to the left and a little towards the back.

I've seen pictures of her father, never actually met the man, but the photos do him justice. His hair is silver and black. His smile is bright and wide as he spots his daughter approaching. Briefly, I try to recall if my dad ever got that look in his eyes when he saw me. Sadly, I can't seem to recall. Maybe when I was younger, but I don't remember too many good times after I hit puberty. Dad and I lost our connection then or maybe he thought he lost his ability to relate to me.

I shake it off and hold out my hand to the now standing Arthur Beaumont. He gently takes my hand in his and gives it a gentle shake.

Nikki makes the introductions, "Daddy, this is Nora Delaney. Nora this is my dad, Arthur." Such manners in my girl, they still catch me off guard.

"Hi, Mr. Beaumont," I say, taking the offered chair to his left.

He helps Nikki with her seat and says, "Arthur please? And it's nice to finally meet you, detective."

He takes his seat and we all give our drink orders to the hostess before continuing the conversation.

"So, Nikki, dear, tell me what has been going on?" her father asks, directing the conversation back to his daughter.

Nikki offers him a casual shrug. "Work mostly. A few cases here, a few cases there." She smiles over at me and I raise an eyebrow before looking down at the menu in my hands.

"Yes, well, that is to be expected. It is a busy city." Arthur looks briefly over the menu in his hands before picking back up, "I spoke to Johnny this morning. He got on about you. Wanted to know if you were planning on making an appearance at his holiday party."

The waitress drops our drinks off to us then, halting the flow of conversation as we place our food orders. When she leaves, Nikki says, "Well, actually, Nora and I were asked to go out of town for Christmas, so I don't think I'll be able to."

I swallow. We just barely spoke about this not more than ten minutes ago. I mean yes, of course, if we can get away, then I'd like to go visit the girls for the holiday, but we both need to check to make sure we have the time and Dan will be merciful and give in to our request.

"Oh, really?" He seems a little shocked. "Where would you be headed?"

"Richmond, Virginia," I answer, "One of my oldest friends works for the F.B.I. and she lives in the area."

"Very well," he says, taking a sip of his sweet tea. "I'll let your uncle know."

"It's not definite. We still need to clear it with our lieutenant, but as soon as we know for sure, I'll call Uncle Johnny and let him know. Actually, you met one of the women we're going to visit. Do you remember Jill, my date for that charity function a few months ago?"

He looks to the ceiling before returning his attention to his daughter. "I do. She was nice. So you'll be going to see her and…her…"

"Wife," Nikki offers.

"Yes, thank you, her wife?"

"We'd like to. Ann just asked right before lunch actually. So as soon as I know more, I'll let you know as well."

"Thank you," he says. Turning to me he asks, "So, detective, tell me a bit about yourself. You've been with the department for a while?"

I bob my head before answering, "Yeah, since Ninety-three. My dad was cop, my uncle, a couple cousins and my younger brother as well."

"A family tradition of sorts. Has your father retired?"

"No, uh, he passed away in Ninety-eight. My uncle a few years before that. Bobby, my younger brother's with the mounted patrol and my cousins are all beat cops," I supply.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's been a good while since Nikki's mom passed." He stops and gets a little wistful, "The time seems to fly, doesn't it?"

"It does," I agree and take the offered cup of coffee Nikki fixed for me.

"You have other siblings?" he asks, taking note of the exchange between Nikki and me.

"Yeah, Patrick is in San Diego with the Marines and Terry's in Baton Rouge with the National Guard. We, uh, seem to have bent towards uniforms in the Delaney family." I fidget for a moment before offering more, "Right now, it's just me, Bobby and my mom."

"That's not so bad," he says smiling. "It's good to have at least one parent around if you can manage it."

"Says you," Nikki finally comments looking over her coffee cup at the two of us.

"Now, Nikki, dear, you act as if I'm a bother," he teases.

"Yes, well, now, daddy, if the shoe fits…" she trails off and his cheeks dust a rosy color.

The conversation trails for minute before our waitress returns with our food. I look at my salad and see that I have Nikki's. She doesn't even look up as we exchange plates.

"Oh, before I forget," Arthur starts, "Everything is all set and you need to contact Mary. She asked me to tell you that she has everything in order and the keys are just waiting to be picked up."

Nikki's face lights up as I feel the smile spread across my own. My lover nearly squeals, "Fantastic. I'll call her when we finish up. Did she need anything else from us?"

He shakes his head as he dumps Tabasco sauce on the po'boy that he ordered. "Just give her a call to arrange a time to pick up the keys and sign the final bits of paperwork."

Nikki's hand reaches out and stops the bottle of Tabasco sauce from adding anymore onto the councilman's sandwich. He clucks his tongue, but allows his daughter to take away his condiment.

The actions telling me that this is an old routine of theirs.

All in, as we sit enjoying a comfortable silence and the food, this isn't as bad as I'd feared. He's not foaming at the mouth mad or waving a bible around declaring sin and damnation. Not that I had expected it, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Nikki's never really gone into how her dad handled her coming out.

Right now, I'm happy with the pleasant surface conversation. I can handle that.

* * *

><p>I watch Nora scribble he name along the bottom of the last form that we need to sign to make this our home. A warmth spreads through my chest causing it to tighten. We did it. I'm sure that there is a foolish grin plastered onto my face, but who cares, it's only Nora and Mary here with me.<p>

Nora's sporting a similar look and Mary, she's been through this before.

The older woman, takes the pen and paperwork from my partner and runs her hand along the edges, putting them into a neat stack. "Well, ladies," she says, "I think that's about it." Turning to her bag she pulls out three sets of keys. "Now, here's one for you," she hands me a set, "Nora, for you," she gives another to my girlfriend, "and the last set, for extra."

We both pocket the keys and Mary slips the finalized paperwork into a folder in her bag. "Also, per the instructions Nikki's father handed over, I've taken care of the utilities. As I understand it, the cable man was instructed to put the one box in the living room and the guest bedroom."

I look to Nora for confirmation and she steps in, "Correct."

"Wonderful, I've left all the paperwork and such over here," she points to small stack of papers and booklets by the space where the refrigerator will go. "Electricity, water, sewage, garbage, phone and gas are all on."

"Thanks again Mary," Nora says, stepping over to me, slipping her hand in mine.

"Above and beyond the call of duty, we appreciate it," I say, giving Nora's hand a gentle squeeze.

"It really was no trouble at all. You two ladies certainly got busy pretty quick and working with Mr. Beaumont was such a joy. He helped get some of the paperwork pushed through a bit quicker and I had no idea a politician could be that funny." She winks at us and I smile back.

"Daddy took a liking to you too," I tell her the truth. He wouldn't stop talking about her and said that if all real estate agents were like her the world would be a better place. I also know Nora was pleased that Mary didn't try to hit on me.

She beams at that. "I think it's time for me to be headed out. You two should stay and enjoy your new home. Take a look around and take it all in." She gathers her bag and Nora and I both give her a hug before she disappears through the door leading to the courtyard.

Nora spins me around as the door clicks shut pulling us together to wrap me in a hug. Her lips press against my neck and I shiver. I know exactly what she has in mind, but first, I want to take another look around our home. I tell as much, "Sugga, as much as I want to do what you're thinking, can we look around our home first?"

She pulls back and looks at me with clear green eyes and nods. I take her hand we walk the whole of the downstairs. Taking in the guest room, the living room, dining room and kitchen. Nora gives a few ideas about how she would like to decorate the spaces. It's a little surprising. While Nora's apartment isn't un-decorated, there's no underlying theme except that it's Nora. The furniture isn't matched, the bed room set, if you want to call it that, she's had since college.

I'm more than happy to let her do some of the decorating.

We make our way upstairs to the sitting room, a quick peek in the bathroom and then into the bedroom where we both stop. Nora's hands drop from my waist and she steps around to come up on my right side to look at the set up in the bedroom.

Sitting in the middle of the floor is full size air mattress, complete with fitted sheet and blanket and two pillows. A folded card sits on the end of the bed. Next to the bed, a bottle of Champagne, two glasses and a small paper plate with an open box of chocolates. I look to Nora and she just shrugs.

I move towards the bed first, bend down, pick up the note and read aloud, "Ladies, I wanted to be the first to give you a house warming present. Please enjoy the Champagne and chocolates spending the first night in your new home. _May you enjoy the four greatest blessings: Honest work to occupy you. A hearty appetite to sustain you. A good woman to love you. And a wink from the God above. _Mary."

"That woman may just be the sweetest thing since you were born," Nora teases me.

I roll my eyes. "Was that supposed to be less cheesy?"

She shakes her head while plucking the note from my hand and tossing it over her shoulder. Her arm reaches out and a finger hooks in a belt loop of my pants. Drawing us together, her lips brush across mine, before pecking out a path along my jaw and down my neck. I tilt my head back to give her better access and she takes the inch I gave and goes a mile.

Gently, she lays us down on the bed, sheds her jacket and begins to work at my clothing. I lay there and let her do as she pleases. I want her to run the show and obviously she has some ideas that she seems more than willing to share.

My shoes go first, my pants and socks quickly follow. She stops then, taking her time to admire my lower body. Her hands run up and down the length of my exposed legs. Blunt nails gently scrape up the length of the inside of my thighs. I part my legs and give her better access, but she stops and her hand move past the band of my panties to travel north.

She straddles my waist and motions for me to sit up, I comply and she slips my jacket off and pulls my top over my head. Finally down to just my undergarments, I reach up and pull at her t-shirt. She smirks and pulls it off, tossing it behind her. My hands dance up her flanks, come towards each other to cup teal satin covered breasts. The pads of my thumb ghosts out over protruding nipples earning a moan for their attention.

Nora's hips push a little harder down on my thighs and it's my turn to smirk.

"Sugga, those pants need to go," I husk.

Playfully, she leans back, her back resting atop my legs as hers straighten out. I reach out, snap open her pants and pull them off her. Those go over my shoulder, and since I'm here, I hook a finger under sensible blue cotton bikini briefs and tug them down too. She rights herself, naked now from the waist down.

I pull at the straps of her bra and tug them down, letting the cups fold over for her breasts to spill out. Leaning forward kiss the top of each and work my way up. One arm snakes around her waist to steady her undulating hips and while the other runs up the length of her back to gently grip the hair at the nape of her neck. My Nora groans as my teeth find her pulse point. Her grunts and groans do the most delicious things to me.

Pulling away she whispers, "I do believe I owe you for earlier today. Sit back and relax." With that she pushes my onto my back, leans forward and finds my lips.

My eyes flutter closed and I know I could spend just this side of eternity like this.


	15. Easy To Be True

_And happiness I've known proves that it's right  
>Because you're mine, I walk the line<em>

Ch. 15 –Easy To Be True

You could take the whole of my knowledge concerning Darius Jamison and put it in a thimble. Maybe that's why Nikki insisted that we come to dinner tonight. I know she's been itching to get us together because of his role in her life. He's important to her. Well, there's that and she wants to meet the woman that Darius has been spending his off time with. And there's another thing, I have no idea what Darius does exactly and as Nikki and I walk up to a small single family home these facts come rushing up to greet me.

He is for all intents and purposes my lover's family and I haven't taken any time in the year plus of our relationship to really get to know him. I frown at the thought. It doesn't sit well and I'm going to have to make up for it at some point.

I think tonight's as good a place as any to start.

Nikki's been all grins since we got up this morning on the not so comfortable air mattress at our new place. I have been too.

"Come on slow poke; we're late as is," Nikki chirps from a few steps in front of me. Her hand rests on the front door knob and as I catch up she pushes the door open. "Dar," she calls out and ushers me in.

"Kitchen, _kouz_'." Darius hollers back.

She takes my windbreaker and hangs it on a hook against the wall immediately to my left. The living room's right off the entrance and I see a hallway leading down to a few closed doors. The living room is modest, a brown leather couch, a love seat and a recliner surround an oak coffee table. The focal point in the room is the entertainment center. The T.V. is there, but it's not the piece of equipment that seems to be the most important. The real monster of the floor to ceiling entertainment center is the sound system.

Admittedly, I don't know much about home theatre systems. I have a radio in June Lee, a five-disk Sony changer in the living room and a small stereo in the bedroom. All of these can be purchased at the local Wal-Mart. The equipment on the entertainment center looks to have cost about as much as I originally paid for my car and then some. I recognize the names of Yamaha and Bose.

"Come on," Nikki says, tugging me in the direction of the dining room and towards the kitchen. I let her lead.

The dining room is off to our left and leads directly into the kitchen where Darius is at the stove stirring a big pot of something that smells like Gumbo. He grins as he sees Nikki. Behind him is a small kitchen table that has another person, presumably, Tricia sitting there with a slight grin.

"'Bout time you got here. You two were any later and the cornbread may have burnt," Darius teases lightly. Nikki rolls her eyes, but pecks him on the cheek being offered. She also takes the initiative and introduces us, "Hi," she says sticking out her hand in greeting to the woman at the table, "I'm Nikki and this," she grabs the sleeve of my long sleeved t-shirt and pulls me next to her, "is Nora."

The woman smiles, takes the offered hand and says, "Hi, Tricia. Darius has told me a lot about you." She extends her hand to me and finally, my manners kick in. I take the offered hand and smile.

"Thanks, Nik." Darius comes up behind us and throws his arms across mine and Nikki's shoulders. "Baby, I apologize in advance for anything this one," he emphasize who by squeezing Nikki's shoulders, "says." Turning to me, he grins, "You bring restraints if she gets outta line?"

I snicker and Nikki sighs.

"I should have an extra set in my room," my lover answers for me.

It's then that two sets of eyes turn towards her in question. "Your room?" I ask.

"Yeah, Nik, why don't you give your partner the fifty cent tour while I finish up in here," Darius suggests, "and while you're at it, Tricia too. I didn't wanna invade."

"He hasn't shown you around this place yet?" Nikki directs the question to Tricia.

The braids in her shoulder length hair shake as Tricia answers, "I've seen the living room, his room and the music room."

"Ah, well then, if you two will follow me I'll show you around." With that Nikki leads us out of the kitchen and back through the dining room as she calls over her shoulder, "Don't burn my Maw maw's cornbread!"

Darius mumbles something unintelligible behind us. Shaking my head, I follow my lover and Tricia. The other woman is something a little different from what I was expecting from Darius. Of course, his choice in women wasn't something that I'd ever given much thought to either. She's as tall as me in heels, solid and with a bigger chest, but she seems to smile easily enough. Her face is full with a strong jawline. The dark brown of her eyes matches her creamy skin tone, as does the color of her hair.

"Tricia," Nikki starts, "You've seen this room, but Nora, sugga, this is the music room." She pushes open the first door on our left. Tricia allows me room to enter and Nikki flips on the light. The walls of the place are sound proofed and it's nearly the size of my old bedroom. Set up like a small recording studio, the door I just stepped through opens up into the outer room, a glass panel, sound desk and door separate the recording booth. Inside that I see another door to the left, but inside the room itself, along the left wall are two electric guitars, an acoustic, a bass guitar, drum kit and various mikes, stands, amps and other things that I don't recognize. The sound desk in front of me holds a huge board and another small one to the left of it along with two turntables.

"Wow," is what I manage.

"It's Darius' downtime room," Nikki says with a bit of pride. "Erica and I had it set up for him our first Christmas together."

I turn to her and smile. "I didn't think he was…well, I mean," I stumble.

She just grins and laces my left hand with her right.

Tugging me out of the room, she leads us to the only door on the right hand side of the hallway. Pushing that door open, she lets Tricia through first and then tugs me behind her. "This is my room."

I look around and can definitely see traces of my Nikki in here.

"I didn't know you lived here," Tricia says, a little surprised that she's just now finding this out.

I can understand. I didn't know she did either.

"I don't, not anymore," Nikki explains, "I skipped out of town for a little while a few years ago. I didn't have any place except my daddy's when I came back, so Darius took it upon himself to get me set up here until I got my own place again. We just decided to leave it so that I could come and invade when I felt like it."

"Oh," Tricia tries for nice, but it comes off forced, "That must be nice. Having a friend like him."

Nikki shrugs. "He's family."

Tricia doesn't look too pleased with the information. I could care less. It's Darius. The man's helped Nikki and myself, since I've known him, more than most of my family has ever helped me.

"Where's Darius' room?" I ask.

Grinning, Nikki leads us back towards the kitchen and dining room, where a door sat unnoticed. "He sleeps in the basement. We had that redone as a master bedroom. Darius, it okay if I show Nora your room?"

"Sure," he hollers back from the kitchen. "Sorry if there are any sundries lying about ladies!"

"Sundries my ass, Darius. Tell me you still don't take your laundry over to maw maw's?" Nikki says as she pulls the door open and hits the light switch just inside.

I look down a set of thick-carpeted steps as he answers, "She gets mad at me if I do my own laundry!"

I hear Nikki grunt and Tricia grumble. Oh, the things you learn on your off days.

* * *

><p>Leaning back in my seat at the small kitchen table, I can't hide the grin. Nora and Darius are getting on well and Tricia isn't a wall-flower. My baby and I just got our new place and everything seems right. Darius catches my eye from across the table and I wink. His grin grows a little wider and we share a moment. Brief and unnoticed by the table's two other occupants.<p>

Him and I have come a long way.

A lot of it we've done together.

"So, Darius," Tricia says, taking his hand, "I didn't know Nikki had her own room here?"

"She does. Always will." He squeezes her hand and tells her gently, "It's a family thing."

"Oh," I say trying to take away the insecurity the girl is feeling. I do understand it to an extent. There's a rule that some live by that claims men and women can't be friends, that it will inevitably lead to some type of romantic entanglement. From the reactions Tricia's given, I can assume that Darius hasn't really told Tricia how we met. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Darius and Nora's friends will have to fight over who gets primary control over our new guest room."

Tricia's brow cocks and Nora just smiles, taking a sip of her Coke.

"You mean those two skinny white chicks? Uh, Alice? No, that ain't right," Darius tries to remember snapping his fingers a few times before a light comes on and he supplies the right names, "Ann and Jill, the model chick."

"That'd be them," Nora answers.

"They can have it as long as I can at least have a couch," Darius magnanimously gives up his spot.

"Of course," Nora answers for us.

"Just how did ya'll meet?" Tricia finally asks.

Darius looks to me and I begin, "We met when I started college."

"Psshaw, that was forever ago. Nik you gonna tell this story right?" Darius butts in.

Intrigued on how he's going to spin this, I wave a hand at him and let him take over.

He leans forward, keeping his hand interlaced with Tricia's. I take up Nora's hand and scoot us closer together. She surprisingly rests her head on my shoulder allowing me to snake my arm around her shoulders. "See, it's like this right. My cousin, Erica, wanted to go to Tulane. Had always been a dream of hers. So she worked her butt off and got accepted. I was the one that helped her move into her dorms." He grins and the pointer finger on his free hand jabs down at the table to punctuate his statement, "The thing with my cousin is that she had an addiction to shoes, so I had to talk her down and move only the three suitcases she had full of 'em.

So we get to the dorms and who is she supposed to shack up with her first year?" He points to me and shakes his head. "This one here, who's got the same damn ailment. We met on the first day I took Erica and just became friends." He wiggles his eyebrows at us all before launching into the next part, "But ya see, I'd come by whenever and we'd all go out. The thing of it is, is that my Erica, God rest her soul, had started to fall head over heels for that one there." He points to me again.

He plucks the collar on his t-shirt and says, "But me being me, I saw that Erica wasn't the only one that was fallin' hard. A little nudge from me and Erica decided to bite the bullet. When the two of them decided to get together, well, let's just say, I'd never seen my baby cousin so happy. Nikki's been family ever since."

"Oh," Tricia says, her mouth falling open a little bit. She directs her gaze to me and then down to Nora, who's snuggled into my side listening to the story, offering her own version of support. She's good with my relationship with Erica. She does know that I still get a little misty eyed when we talk about my girl. "I didn't know you were…" Tricia tries to say but trails off, obviously a little uncomfortable.

"I think the term you're looking for, Tricia," I supply, "is lesbian." I scrunch my nose up in the cutest way I know how, trying to convey my okay-ness with her stumbling. "Erica was my girlfriend."

"I didn't mean, well," she stammers.

Nora pokes her head up at this and says, "See now, I like the term gay. It's shorter."

I roll my eyes. Of course she does.

"There's a difference, though," Darius pipes up.

"Now, now, wait a minute," I say stopping them both, "Does it really matter?" I arch an eyebrow and wait on a response.

Nora's mouth turns down in the cutest way and she shrugs. Darius' mouth screws to the side as he thinks on it.

"I always thought the term 'gay' referred to men and 'lesbian' referred to women," Darius finally answers.

Nora just waves her hand in the air dismissively. "I'm sure to some it does. I say who gives a crap. Gay is gay. What did that one girl say in that movie that you made me watch…no wait, Jill…Jill brought that movie."

I cock my head to the side and try to remember which movie she's talking about. Oh, wait, I got it. She must see that I remember as I turn to Tricia and lay a hand over hers. "We like girls…a lot." I give her a wink and I'm sure that if I could see it, her cheeks would be beat red.

"Hey, hey, now," Darius laughs, "This one's mine. You can't have her too." He jokingly lays a possessive arm across Tricia's shoulders and pulls her to him.

Tricia cocks an eyebrow over his way and says, "Yours? You better correct yourself, Darius."

"Awe, but Trish, you can't let 'em take you. Hell, Nik's left too many broken hearts lying around the city after our Erica passed," he pouts.

Nora looks to me with a raised eyebrow. I kiss the corner of her down turned mouth and whisper, "Don't you worry, sugga, I'm all yours now."

She grunts and mumbles, "You better be or you got some serious explaining to do when we get home."

"Wow," Tricia says all smiles then sobers slightly as she asks, "Uh, if you don't mind, how did she…"

"Erica die?" Darius tries to clarify.

Tricia nods and I answer, "She was murdered in December of Ninety-four."

"I'm sorry," she says, genuinely upset over the information.

"She would have liked you," I appraise. "She was a good woman. Darius and I sort of struggled through it together." I decide that giving her an honest explanation is warranted despite the somber mood it may send us in, "I can understand your shock tonight. Darius and I are close. Like he said, we're family. Him," I point to the man in question, "and my daddy was really all I had after she passed. Until Nora came along." I plant a kiss on Nora's cheek and she blushes at the admission.

"And thank you Jesus!" He exclaims. "Really, Nora, I think I owe you for taking this one off my hands. She's too much for any one man to handle. Erica tried…I'm guessin' she gives you a run for it?"

Nora shrugs, but jokes back, "Well, as long as you're around to help and I got my cuffs."

I roll my eyes. It's no fair if they're gonna start to gang up on me.

* * *

><p>I straighten up and feel my back pop. Crap. I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Knowing this I try to work out the kinks in my neck and stretch a bit as Nikki and Darius bicker in the kitchen about taking the fridge. We're all at Nikki's place packing up the rest of her stuff. Thus far, we've moved her living room and bedroom.<p>

We both agreed that her bedroom set should be moved to the new place with my mattress. Her bed is fine for the most part, but my mattress is newer. I will be able to get rid of the bedroom set I've had since forever.

That's going to be nice. The furniture that occupied my bedroom at the apartment had seen better days.

My living room set is going upstairs in the sitting room and Nikki's living room set will go downstairs along with her entertainment center and TV. A lot of my stuff will be donated and we have the furniture store delivering the rest of the new stuff that we purchased before going to Darius' for dinner last night.

"Now, just wait a minute, Nicollette Joyelle, I didn't sign on to be no pack mule today," Darius groans from the kitchen.

"But Dar," my girl pouts, "I don't want to get rid of it. I know you can move it."

I sigh and shuffle into the kitchen, redoing my ponytail as I walk into the argument.

"Yeah, but Nik, have a little sympathy. Ain't there anyone you two can call to help?" he asks, hands on hip.

I shuffle my feet and say, "I could probably call Bobby…"

"No," Nikki says, looking at me with her arms folded across her chest.

Darius follows suit and asks, "You two still ain't talkin' right?"

I nod.

"Then no and I'm sorry, girl," Darius says, coming over to me. I watch as he tugs at the waist of his jeans that have begun to ride below acceptable levels. "Hey, did I ever tell you about when Rica came out to her favoritest _kouz_'?"

I shake my head as he sits us down at the kitchen table. "Well it was, I think, Nineteen-ninety. I was all kinds of freaked out. I mean, back in the day, that wasn't somethin' that was being talked about or if it was, it wasn't talked about too kindly ya know?"

I raise an eyebrow at him wondering where this is going.

"We're a good Christian family," he thumps his chest and mocks, "'Least that's what maw maw wants. I'm sure Nik's given you a bit of background about my family. So anyway, I wasn't too kind to my little cousin. Didn't really know how to deal with it." His mouth pinches and he looks over at Nikki before continuing, "It took me a minute and by minute I'm talking a few months, to come around and be right with it. I get that it's your life. Ya know, your bedroom and logically, you can't help who you love. It's just what it is. I'm sure there's a good many folk that would choose to love someone else if they could help it."

He scratches at the curly stubble along his jawline. "What I'm sayin' is give your brother some time and a bit of space. He's got to get right with himself. Not you."

"How you figure?" I ask.

"'Cause he can't change you. You ain't done nothin' wrong and if fallin' in love with a beautiful woman is wrong than we got bigger problems, ya know? It's himself that he needs to get right with. He needs to get what it really means to love even after what you thought you knew about the person you love is different than what is. He's messed up in the head right now. I've also seen him with you, he'll come around."

Darius grins at me then and lays a hand on my shoulder. "When he does come around, he'll have you're back no matter what. It's what family does." He nods firmly, broking no room for me to argue with his assessment.

"He's right," Nikki finally speaks up from her perch on the counter. "Daddy took a bit of time to come around too. But if Bobby takes much longer, he's gonna hafta deal with me."

I smile at my girl then. She's wearing short shorts, sneakers and a tank top. I sigh and nod.

"That's all well and good, you two, but it still doesn't help us today," I remind them.

"True," he says, "Hey I was wantin' to know how this is all gonna pan out anyhow?"

"Pan out how?" I ask.

"You two. Nora, you and Nik, living together, working together. How you two are gonna manage to keep this under wraps?"

"Ah," Nikki hops off the counter and informs him of how we've decided to get this to work, "Dan's taken care of the paperwork at work. Not a lot, but enough so that no one will gossip. Nora's family never shows up to her apartment. Well, Bobby, but he knows so that's not a big deal. I think we'll be just fine."

"And if the department finds out?" Darius asks leaning back in his chair.

"We'll deal with it," I answer for us. We talked about it. "Nikki and I don't want to be split up, but we've talked about it if it comes out."

He nods and looks between the two of us. I haven't gotten a chance to learn to read him and his non-verbal signals just yet, but I think he's approving of the situation his "cousin" has found herself in. "All right." He lets the two front legs of the chair touch down before he stands. "You two figure out what else needs to go to the apartment and what needs to go to storage while I make a quick phone call."

Nikki and I watch as he strides out of the room then I look at her. She's propped against the kitchen counter with a smirk on her face. "What?" I want to know.

She shakes her head. "We have to be back at the new place soon. I'm not sure how we're going to get all of this done. We have the new stove being delivered and the new bedroom set for the guest room."

I stand and move in front of her, wrapping my arms around her midsection to pull her to me. "Don't remind me. At least my place is taken care of."

"Hmm," she hums and rests against me. "Why didn't you tell me moving all this shit around was gonna be so much work."

From my head resting on her shoulder, I mumble, "We can stop. You can stay here. I can stay at my place."

I get a smack on the ass for that. Giggling she groans, "Bite your tongue. If I don't get to live with you, then you just don't get to live period."

"Oh," I say and push back to brush my lips across her chin, "is that a threat detective."

"No," she sighs, "Just a statement of fact."

"Good." I say and take a nip at her protruding bottom lip. "Not living with you seems like a bad idea anyhow."

"Break it up!" Darius barks as he re-enters the kitchen. "You two can go back to the new place and wait on the deliveries. I'll finish up here." He plops back down on the chair he was seated at earlier. Seeing the dual looks of confusion, he gives us more, "I got a coupla buddies that owe me comin' by in twenty minutes to help finish this up."

Nikki and I both look at him in shock. I also think that I fall in love with him a little.

* * *

><p>My hands rest causally on my hips as I look at the last little bit that needs to be unpacked. Nora and I saved the living room for last as it's proven to be the easiest. Yesterday, with Darius and his friends help, we were able to get everything pretty much moved in and situated. There are still the lingering boxes in the living room that need to be tended to. I took it upon myself to do that little bit of unpacking while Nora cooks dinner in our new kitchen.<p>

Our. New. Kitchen.

In our new home. Together. Where we live. Together.

Now, I know I'm over an acceptable age to be giddy. To hop up and down like I did as a high school girl and squeal in joy and merriment, but surely, buying a home with the woman you intend to spend the rest of your life with is reason enough, at any age, to want to act like a fifteen year old and hop up and down.

The grin comes over me again and I drop to my knees in front of the entertainment center to rid us of one of the last few boxes. I'm living with Nora. Her and I are shacked up.

Now I'm just not sure what to do with Dan. I can thank him for giving us a five-day weekend to get moved in and settled before we return to work on Wednesday or I can strangle him for the house warming gift he dropped off tonight as he informed us of the extra two days he squeezed out of the schedule.

I look over at the corner where the new puppy bed is. He dropped off a damn dog. Now usually, I'm against pets. I'm sure it breaks some lesbian code of conduct, but I'm just not a pet person. Never was. But damn him, as soon as Nora laid eyes on the mutt, and he really is a mutt, she caved. Her big green eyes went all glassy and I couldn't put my foot down.

So now I have a home with my partner and a dog. I swear if she tries to put me in some flannel I'm gonna kick her. I snicker at the thought. Although Nora may look kinda hot in a flannel shirt, maybe with nothing underneath and the buttons done up so that it barely covers her smooth skin and round breasts.

I sigh.

Okay, I need to unpack. I rip the tape off the first box and quickly empty the DVD's on to the appropriate shelf. No need to dilly-dally. The second box of DVD's goes just as quickly and then the third and fourth hold books that go along the side. I glance back at the middle of the room and see only the last lone box.

"Baby, you almost done?" Nora calls from the kitchen.

"Yeah, you got my dinner ready woman!" I holler back and smirk.

"Excuse me?" she says softly behind me.

I crane my neck around and look up at her through my bangs. "Sugga, you got dinner almost ready?" I ask in a syrupy sweet tone.

She grumps at me as I turn around and pull the tape off the last box. A few photos are left and I debate putting two of them up. The one of me and my parents is easy. The one of Darius and me is as well, but I bite my lower lip, deciding on what to do with the pictures of Erica and me.

"She's a part of you. She deserves a spot here in our home just like the rest of our family," Nora says softly behind me. She takes the two photos from my hands and puts one next to the one of Darius and me. The other, the candid shot of Rica and I smiling at each other, she walks over to the mantle where photos of the rest of the motley crew we consider family reside. She sets Erica and I right next to Jill and Ann.

Spinning around to me, she says, "I think she goes well right there. Don't you?"

Tears blur my vision, but I feel her hoist me up. Her lips press against mine as I mumble, "We're moved in."

She pulls back and groans, "Thank God."

She backs us to the couch and says, "Dinner'll be ready in a bit. We have a half hour or so." With that she wiggles her eyebrows and I smirk.

We've only broken the living room in twice. I'm sure once more won't hurt it none. I straddle her waist and lift my tank top over my head. I strip her next, leaving both of us in sports bras. Granted, not the sexiest bit of lingerie that we have available, but I cut us some slack. We've been moving the past two days.

That and Nora can look sexy in a paper bag.

I smirk down at her as I run my hands over full breasts, teasing them through the soft cotton material. "Do you know how happy I am?" I ask as I lean down and nuzzle her neck.

"Can't…be…neeaarrlllyy, oh hell," she stammers as I lick up her neck, to her ear and begin to lave and nibble her lobe.

Giggling, I husk, "Think about it, sugga. Our couch, our living room in our home. Why I could just eat you alive right now."

"I, uh, well, if you must," she jokes and begins tugging at my shorts.

I lean back and slip off her lap. To assist her impatient hands, I let my shorts fall to the floor followed by my panties. Stripping off my bra, I toss it behind my shoulder and then motion for her to lift up as I help her out of her sweat pants and underwear. She takes care of her bra and I drink in the sight of a naked Nora Delaney.

Now, I've never considered myself a particularly pervy individual. But, I lick my lips and think about grabbing the camera. The site of her naked on our couch is short-circuiting certain parts of my brain and I'm sure I'm going to be left slightly damaged after this encounter.

She grabs my hands to pull me back down. I resume my position, straddle her thighs and lean over her. Our lips connect as I start a slow grind in her lap, letting my body move against hers in an unhurried rhythm. I feel her hands snake under me, clutching my bottom. Her tongue slides against mine. The heat builds between us and I moan, pulling away to catch my breath.

I can feel her wetness slide against my own as my hips press down and hers press up. Needing to taste her, I slip from my perch to the floor when a cold wet nose hits the small of my back. I gasp, my head whips around and Nora snickers. The little mutt that Dan gave us sits there looking up at us. Bright, shiny, black eyes blink up at us. My finger points at him and I say, "You put that nose anywhere else, Mister and I'm going to shoot it off."

"Nikki," Nora groans, "be nice." She gets my attention as she pulls my chin with her finger. Her eyes are alight with merriment as she says, "I also think you just named our dog. What do you think, Mister?"

The little mutt gives a yip of approval, wagging his scruffy little tale. I roll my eyes, but am unable to resist reaching out with my left hand to scratch behind his ears. I watch as he scampers off, wagging its tail happy at the attention, to his bed in the corner.

Nora gives a cough and I turn my attention back to the naked woman on our couch. Right. I was about ready to…

The timer in the kitchen goes off and we both let out a groan. "Dinners ready," Nora chirps.

She goes to stand, but I stop her by gripping her ankles. "Nuh-huh," I say, looking up at her indicating with my eyes just what exactly I want in my mouth right now.

"After," she informs me, shaking off my hands. I watch dejected as she reaches for her pants and t-shirt. The glorious body is swiftly covered up and disappears into the kitchen.

A pout forms as I kneel, still very much naked and turned on in the middle of our living room.

This seems grossly unfair. Unable to do much, but cover up, I redress and join my lover in the kitchen after casting one last withering glance at a jovial puppy.

Mister's got one strike against him.

I wonder how long it'll take for the next two.


End file.
